Abstract
Gives an overview of open source-based services at the Oslo Public Library, and maps out a plan for international cooperation between libraries to produce a customized Linux distribution for libraries modelled on the Norwegian ‘Skolelinux’ project. Deichmanske Bibliotek/The Oslo Public Library has used the open source LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) for both office support and as a platform for servers providing exciting multimedia services to its target public. If proprietary software had been used, the costs would have been significantly higher and would in most cases have been prohibitive, so that the projects would never have been realized. On client computers, the LOOM combination of open source products (Linux, Open Office, Mozilla) has enabled the library to install many more public computers than would have been possible with a proprietary platform.
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