“Open source software is computer software for which the human-readable source code is made available under a copyright license (or arrangement such as the public domain) that meets the Open Source Definition. This permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified form. It is often developed in a public, collaborative manner. Open source software is the most prominent example of open source development and often compared to user generated content”. (Wikipedia)
“All software is written with source code. By using open source software, the code is protected by a special license to make sure that everyone has access to that code and use it”. This is referred to as GPL(General public license) That means no individual or a particular company can fully own it. That's why open source is considered to be inevitable. It is created to benefit to the customer. The code can be seen explicitly, change it as you wish and learn from it. Bugs are more quickly identified and fixed. And when customers don't like how a particular vendor is rendering a service to them, they can choose another without overhauling their infrastructure. No more technology lock-in. No more monopolies. Freedom means choice and choice means power.(Why open source?, 2008).
Most people I believe open source simply creates better software alternative. In terms of budgeting, it is a save cost budget. No license is required to use it. You can change or edit according to your needs.
In a business environment, it increases one company's production capacity many times over. As everyone collaborates, the best software wins. Not just within one company, but among an Internet-connected, worldwide community. It's no coincidence that the rise of open source closely followed the rise of the Internet. The perfect breeding ground for collaboration, the Internet circulates ideas and code around the world in an instant. This statement is supported by the article written by Campbell. As a result, the open source model often builds higher quality, more secure, more easily integrated software.(eg. OFBiz, Apache OFBiz (Apache Open For Business Project, Compiere ERP). And it does it at a vastly accelerated pace and often at a lower cost. In the proprietary model, development occurs within one company. Programmers write code, hide it behind binaries, charge customers to use the software--then charge them more to fix it when it breaks. No one ever has to know how bad the software really is. The problem worsens when you become tied to a company's architecture, protocols, and file formats. Bruce Perens says in the article calls this addiction model of software procurement. “Any model that puts customers at such a fundamental disadvantage is conceptually broken.” (Bruce Perens, 2002)
“Open source is not nameless, faceless, and it's not charity. Nor is it solely a community effort. What you see today is a technology revolution driven ever forward by market demand. The concept behind open source is not new for us. For centuries, universities and research communities have shared their knowledge and relentless effort. Monks copied books by hand. Scientists publish new discoveries in journals. Mathematical formulas are circulated, improved, and redistributed. Just imagine if all of this past knowledge was kept hidden or its use was restricted to only those who are willing to pay for it. Yet this is the mentality behind the proprietary software model. In the same way shared knowledge drives the whole of society forward; open technology development can drive innovation for the whole industry. (Why open source?, 2008)
References:
Wikipedia.
Why open source? Retrieved on: 2 May 2008 from http://www.redhat.com/about/whyopensource/
No comments:
Post a Comment