General Question : Problems in Updating openEMR while havong customizations

OpenEMR Development
#1

ravisoni wrote on Tuesday, January 14, 2014:

Hello,

I’m customizing the openEMR as a cloud hosted solution and I’ve done a fair work on it, but suddenly I thought what happens if i update it to latest openEMR version ???

I also worked on Drupal and Magento but these systems have well developed plugin system with them so we can separate our customization from the core files, but this kind of functionality is not present in openEMR.
What I have thought yet that I need to keep track of all customization’s and will update them in the latest version.

Any idea will be very helpful and appreciable.

Sorry for bad English.

Thanks
Ravi

#2

jcahn2 wrote on Tuesday, January 14, 2014:

Ahoy Ravi,
This is exactly the problem created by “forking” OpenEMR code. If you were to share code with the project, and it becomes incorporated in the official codebase, then you can rest assured that future upgrades will not break its functionality.
Jack Cahn MD
OEMR.org Board

#3

ravisoni wrote on Tuesday, January 14, 2014:

Hi Jack ,

Very thanks for reply, I’m developing a closed source custom project not a open source work that’s why I’m not able to post the code here.

any other idea?

#4

mdsupport wrote on Tuesday, January 14, 2014:

Simple answer is with few exceptions bespoke code is not upgrade-safe. For us the saving grace is we use ‘features’ that keeps our diff rework to few lines. However it would be in your interest to provide ‘hooks’ that benefit this project and help you keep your development separate. Try to suggest and provide code enhancements to standard code base. If your contributed changes become standard within reasonable incremental effort, everyone benefits.

#5

openemrdev wrote on Tuesday, January 14, 2014:

Hi all

I think customization may provide solutions to meet specific needs of some users
and does not necessarily have to be included in the “official” code release.

It does not make sense to add all the individual users customization to official code base

#6

fsgl wrote on Tuesday, January 14, 2014:

If the original poster is seeking free advice to safeguard his closed source development which is based upon an open source platform, then it would appear not to be gentlemanly nor laudable behavior.

#7

ravisoni wrote on Wednesday, January 15, 2014:

Hey fsgl
Thanks for your kind reply and sorry If you are disappointed by the question asked by me.
I’m not looking for Free Advice on closed source development I just want to confirm that is this possible with openEMR to customize it using full fledged plugin & hooking system which can override any section of openEMR like other systems “Drupal & Magento etc” have.

Thanks
Ravi

#8

openemrdev wrote on Wednesday, January 15, 2014:

Dear fsgl

Every vendors in the community still doing personal customizations…And you cant ask them to give their code for community…Please understand that…

All individual customization is not needed for community

#9

blankev wrote on Wednesday, January 15, 2014:

Dear OpenEmrDev,

Yes it is possible, since OpenEMR is Open Source. But thinking of all those Developers that supported with free improvements for betterment of the product that is now available as Open Source, we would like to have some feed back on what you did achieve and how this can help to make OpenEMR an even better product. Also keep in mind that for future compatibility you would have a great start with every new improvement if you have your own coding included in the official code structure of OpenEMR.

Make your own implementations and let us know where you see an option for improvement and where to go to get this included as the next new feature.

It might be an option to show your clients that this product can be improved for personal wishes, just send your clients a link to this forum. So for future reference they will know what the advise was and where they might get into trouble in the future.

My advise would be to make the needed changes with an on/off global option for your clients.

#10

jcahn2 wrote on Wednesday, January 15, 2014:

Without dragging Richard Stallman into the discussion, or posting a long diatribe on open source, suffice it to say that users and vendors of OpenEMR benefit and profit from the hard work and generosity of those who have gone before them. While it is perfectly legal to benefit and profit from OpenEMR without giving any measure in return, it is not ethically sound. Vendors know this and should also make their clients aware of their moral duty.

That being said Ravi, you will find this community to be, in general, very helpful and friendly when solving problems germane to the project.

@openemrdev “you cant ask them to give their code for community”
Oh yes we can, and should. Please allow the community to decide what customization is appropriate to offer as an option and what to include in the main code. Who really knows the needs and desires of the many, many OpenEMR users until those options are offered? And thank you for your previous contributions.

#11

fsgl wrote on Wednesday, January 15, 2014:

There appears to be a lack of understanding that self-serving behavior, which manifests itself in varied guises, is singularly unattractive.

The crux of the matter is not about customization. Each and every customization are not relevant nor useful to the community at large.

It’s about taking repeatedly but not giving back. When a user installs the open source software, the updates/patches, followed by seeking help, irrespective of the topic, in an open source Forum, without a single word about reciprocating the generosity of many other developers; it runs counter to the spirit of open source. If everyone acted this way, there would be no OpenEMR.

At a minimum, it is a lack of etiquette.

#12

yehster wrote on Wednesday, January 15, 2014:

http://www.outercurve.org/Blogs/EntryId/129/B-How-freeloaders-build-your-community

#13

openemrdev wrote on Wednesday, January 15, 2014:

Hi all,

Agree with your thoughts.

I think this topic will create awarness between dev folks …and
definitely gives a way to get more codes to community …
On Jan 15, 2014 7:04 PM, “fsgl” fsgl@users.sf.net wrote:

There appears to be a lack of understanding that self-serving behavior,
which manifests itself in varied guises, is singularly unattractive.

The crux of the matter is not about customization. Each and every
customization are not relevant nor useful to the community at large.

It’s about taking repeatedly but not giving back. When a user installs the
open source software, the updates and patches, followed by asking technical
advice, irrespective of the topic, in an open source Forum, without a
single word about reciprocating the generosity of many other developers; it
runs counter to the spirit of open source. If everyone acted this way,
there would be no OpenEMR.

At a minimum it is poor etiquette.

General Question : Problems in Updating openEMR while havong
customizations.https://sourceforge.net/p/openemr/discussion/202506/thread/35d7af81/?limit=50#5345

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#14

fsgl wrote on Wednesday, January 15, 2014:

An analogous situation exists with PBS in that only one in ten viewers contribute financially to their local stations. Our local station is fond of saying during pledge drives, their work is impossible without public support, albeit only 10%. They go on to say that the viewer should enjoy the programs without qualms if it’s a financial burden.

If a user has neither the time nor ability to contribute, no one expects a quid pro quo. It may be a bit strong, but the author of the blog is “defining deviancy downward” (the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan), when he opined that freeloading is desirable. Yes, a large community of users is a testament to the quality of the open source software, but I doubt the blogger would be such an ardent advocate of that particular character flaw if 100% of the users were always takers and never givers.

The blog is reminiscent of Gordon Gekko (Wall Street) declaring: “Ladies and gentlemen, Greed is good.”

#15

fsgl wrote on Wednesday, January 15, 2014:

Thank you for being gracious.

#16

jcahn2 wrote on Thursday, January 16, 2014:

The analogy to public radio/TV also crossed my mind. Pure genius I’m sure. Ravi, sorry to have hijacked your thread but I suspect you “hit a nerve” for many on this forum.

#17

nathanastle wrote on Monday, February 06, 2017:

Hi,

Is there any plugin or module for OpenEmr to integrate in magento

#18

cverk wrote on Tuesday, February 07, 2017:

Maybe not what he is looking to do, but whenever I customize a file like putting my office address into the billing form, I just save a copy of it in a seperate folder so I can just swap it back in when a new update happens. There are a variety of these sort of things that have nothing to do with the project as a whole.