Patent ID: 8489543

Claim:
An upgrade method for an open source software application on a system, the method comprising: receiving, at a system with an installation of an existing open source software application, an upgrade package to upgrade the existing open source software application; identifying, by the system with the installation of an existing open source software application, for each file in the upgrade package, if the file does not match a prior version of the file in the existing open source software application in order to indicate a file in the existing open source software application that has been customized by the user of the existing open source software application; automatically upgrading, on the system with the installation of an existing open source software application, the files in the upgrade package that are not identified as being customized; and selectively, based on one of user instructions and default logic, upgrading the files on the system with the installation of an existing open source software application identified as being customized so that the customizations of the user of the existing open source software application are not lost during the upgrade process.