Open Source Licensing, Software Evaluation, and Cloud Architecture Analysis

Sample Answer

Open Source Licensing, Software Evaluation, and Cloud Architecture Analysis

Introduction

This coursework analyses a set of fictional software projects and a real world inspired cloud deployment scenario. The first part focuses on open source licensing choices, software sustainability, and commercialisation challenges. The second part evaluates cloud storage, processing, and cost considerations for a large scale Internet of Things deployment. Throughout, the analysis balances legal, technical, and business perspectives, using realistic assumptions and industry standard practices.

Task 1: Suitable Libraries for KittyDraw and PhotoPro

KittyDraw is a freely downloadable hobby project with no commercial intent. Because of this, it can safely use any of the listed libraries from a licensing perspective.

AlphaImg uses the GPL licence, which requires that any software incorporating it must also be released under the GPL when distributed. This is compatible with KittyDraw because the project is already free and non commercial. BoomPics uses the LGPL licence, which allows linking to proprietary or open source software without forcing the main application to adopt the same licence. ColourizeIt uses the ISC licence, which is highly permissive and places minimal restrictions on reuse.

Therefore, KittyDraw could use AlphaImg, BoomPics, or ColourizeIt without legal issues.

PhotoPro is commercial software with a paid version. Using AlphaImg would require PhotoPro to release its source code under the GPL, which is incompatible with a proprietary business model. BoomPics is suitable because the LGPL allows commercial use as long as modifications to the library itself are shared. ColourizeIt is also suitable due to its permissive ISC licence.

In summary, KittyDraw can use all three libraries, while PhotoPro should use BoomPics or ColourizeIt, but not AlphaImg.

Task 2: Assessing Stability and Maintenance of Open Source Libraries

When choosing an open source library, assessing stability and maintenance is essential to reduce technical risk.

One key source of information is release history and versioning. A library with regular releases and stable version increments suggests active maintenance. For example, the Linux kernel shows frequent, structured releases, while the Django framework maintains predictable long term support versions.

Another important indicator is issue tracker activity. An active issue tracker with timely responses indicates a healthy project. For instance, Mozilla Firefox resolves reported issues consistently, while the Kubernetes project maintains transparent bug tracking with clear priorities.

Commit history and contributor activity also provide insight. A project with frequent commits from multiple contributors is less dependent on a single individual. Git itself has a large and active contributor base, while the PostgreSQL project shows steady development from a distributed team.

Documentation quality is another strong signal. Well maintained documentation suggests long term usability and care for users. Python’s official documentation is a good example, as is the extensive documentation provided by the Apache HTTP Server project.

Finally, community support and adoption matters. Projects with active forums, mailing lists, or Stack Overflow presence are more reliable. Node.js benefits from a massive global community, while OpenSSL demonstrates strong institutional and industry backing.

Using these indicators together helps developers judge whether a library is stable, safe to depend on, and likely to be supported in the future.

Task 3: Commercialising KittyDraw

If Prosoft acquires KittyDraw, several challenges must be addressed.

The first issue is intellectual property ownership. Prosoft must ensure that the original author fully transfers the rights to the code and confirms that no third party code has incompatible licences.

The second issue is monetisation without alienation. KittyDraw’s existing users expect free access. Introducing paid tiers, ads, or subscriptions must be done carefully to retain goodwill while generating revenue.

The third issue is scaling development. Transitioning from a single developer to a team requires code refactoring, documentation, version control processes, and quality assurance practices. Without this, productivity and software quality may suffer.

Task 4: Cloud Storage Options for KittyDraw

Assumptions:

Each image is 100 KB.
Each user saves 3 images per week.
1 million active users.

Weekly storage growth:

1,000,000 × 3 × 100 KB = 300 GB per week.

Local files on cloud VMs are simple but scale poorly. They introduce backup, redundancy, and availability risks and are unsuitable at this scale.

A single regional storage bucket is easy to manage and cost effective but introduces latency for global users and a single point of regional failure.

Multiple regional buckets improve performance and resilience but increase complexity, data synchronisation challenges, and operational overhead.

A single multi region storage bucket provides high availability, automatic replication, and global performance, making it highly suitable for a global user base.

A cloud database is not ideal for storing image files due to cost and performance inefficiencies. Databases are better suited to metadata rather than binary objects.

The two most suitable options are multiple regional buckets and a single multi region bucket. Choosing between them would require understanding user geographic distribution, latency sensitivity, and cost constraints.