Article: Free and open-source software (FOSS) is computer software that can be classified as both free software and open-source software. FOSS is an inclusive term that covers both free software and open-source software, which despite describing similar development models, have differing cultures and philosophies. Free refers to the users' freedom to copy and re-use the software. The Free Software Foundation, an organization that advocates the free software model, suggests that, to understand the concept, one should "think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer". (See https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html ) Free software focuses on the fundamental freedoms it gives to users, whereas open source software focuses on the perceived strengths of its peer-to-peer development model. FOSS is a term that can be used without particular bias towards either political approach. That is, anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source code is openly shared so that people are encouraged to voluntarily improve the design of the software. This is in contrast to proprietary software, where the software is under restrictive copyright and the source code is usually hidden from the users.
The benefits of using FOSS can include decreasing software costs, increasing security and stability (especially in regard to malware), protecting privacy, and giving users more control over their own hardware. Free, open-source operating systems such as Linux and descendents of BSD are widely utilized today, powering millions of servers, desktops, smartphones (e.g. Android), and other devices. Free software licenses and open-source licenses are used by many software packages.It is widely used.
ADVANTAGES OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
1. It’s generally free – it has been estimated that open source software collectively saves businesses $60 billion a year. These days for virtually every paid for proprietary software system you will find an open source version.
2. It’s continually evolving in real time as developers add to it and modify it, which means it can be better quality and more secure and less prone to bugs than proprietary systems, because it has so many users poring over it and weeding out problems.
3. Using open source software also means you are not locked in to using a particular vendor’s system that only work with their other systems.
4. You can modify and adapt open source software for your own business requirements, something that is not possible with proprietary systems.
History
History of free and open-source software
History of free and open-source software
In the 1950s to 1970s, it was common for computer users to have the source code for all programs they used, and the permission and ability to modify it for their own use. Software, including source code, was commonly shared by individuals who used computers. Most companies had a business model based on hardware sales, and provided or bundled software with hardware, free of charge. Organizations of users and suppliers were formed to facilitate the exchange of software; see, for example, SHARE and DECUS.
By the late 1960s, the prevailing business model around software was changing. A growing and evolving software industry was competing with the hardware manufacturer's bundled software products; rather than funding software development from hardware revenue, these new companies were selling software directly. Leased machines required software support while providing no revenue for software, and some customers able to better meet their own needs did not want the costs of software bundled with hardware product costs. In United States vs. IBM, filed 17 January 1969, the government charged that bundled software was anticompetitive. While some software might always be free, there would be a growing amount of software that was for sale only. In the 1970s and early 1980s, some parts of the software industry began using technical measures (such as only distributing binary copies of computer programs) to prevent computer users from being able to use reverse engineering techniques to study and customize software they had paid for. In 1980, the copyright law was extended to computer programs in the United States—previously, computer programs could be considered ideas, procedures, methods, systems, and processes, which are not copyrightable.
In 1983, Richard Stallman, longtime member of the hacker community at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, announced the GNU project, saying that he had become frustrated with the effects of the change in culture of the computer industry and its users. Software development for the GNU operating system began in January 1984, and the Free Software Foundation (FSF) was founded in October 1985. An article outlining the project and its goals was published in March 1985 titled the GNU Manifesto. The manifesto included significant explanation of the GNU philosophy, Free Software Definition and "copyleft" ideas.
The Linux kernel, started by Linus Torvalds, was released as freely modifiable source code in 1991. Initially, Linux was not released under a free or open-source software license. However, with version 0.12 in February 1992, he relicensed the project under the GNU General Public License. Much like Unix, Torvalds' kernel attracted the attention of volunteer programmers.
FreeBSD and NetBSD (both derived from 386BSD) were released as free software when the USL v. BSDi lawsuit was settled out of court in 1993. OpenBSD forked from NetBSD in 1995. Also in 1995, The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache, was released under the Apache License 1.0.
In 1997, Eric Raymond published The Cathedral and the Bazaar, a reflective analysis of the hacker community and free software principles. The paper received significant attention in early 1998, and was one factor in motivating Netscape Communications Corporation to release their popular Netscape Communicator Internet suite as free software. This code is today better known as Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird.
Netscape's act prompted Raymond and others to look into how to bring the FSF's free software ideas and perceived benefits to the commercial software industry. They concluded that FSF's social activism was not appealing to companies like Netscape, and looked for a way to rebrand the free software movement to emphasize the business potential of sharing and collaborating on software source code. The new name they chose was "open source", and quickly Bruce Perens, publisher Tim O'Reilly, Linus Torvalds, and others signed on to the rebranding. The Open Source Initiative was founded in February 1998 to encourage use of the new term and evangelize open-source principles.
While the Open Source Initiative sought to encourage the use of the new term and evangelize the principles it adhered to, commercial software vendors found themselves increasingly threatened by the concept of freely distributed software and universal access to an application's source code. A Microsoft executive publicly stated in 2001 that "open source is an intellectual property destroyer. I can't imagine something that could be worse than this for the software business and the intellectual-property business." This view perfectly summarizes the initial response to FOSS by some software corporations. However, while FOSS has historically played a role outside of the mainstream of private software development, companies as large as Microsoft have begun to develop official open-source presences on the Internet. IBM, Oracle, Google and State Farm are just a few of the companies with a serious public stake in today's competitive open-source market. There has been a significant shift in the corporate philosophy concerning the development of free and open-source software (FOSS).
Controversy
While copyright is the primary legal mechanism that FOSS authors use to ensure license compliance for their software, other mechanisms such as legislation, patents, and trademarks have implications as well. In response to legal issues with patents and the DMCA, the Free Software Foundation released version 3 of its GNU Public License in 2007 that explicitly addressed the DMCA and patent rights.
After the development of the GNU GPLv3 in 2007, the FSF (as copyright holder of many pieces of the GNU system) updated many of the GNU programs' licenses from GPLv2 to GPLv3. On the other hand, the adoption of the new GPL version was heavily discussed in the FOSS ecosystem, several projects decided against upgrading. For instance the linux kernel, the BusyBox project, AdvFS, Blender, and as also the VLC media player decided against adopting the GPLv3.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.videolan.org/press/2007-1.html |title=VLC media player to remain under GNU GPL version 2 |quote=In 2001, VLC was released under the OSI-approved GNU General Public version 2, with the commonly-offered option to use "any later version" thereof (though there was not any such later version at the time). Following the release by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) of the new version 3 of its GNU General Public License (GPL) on the 29th of June 2007, contributors to the VLC media player, and other software projects hosted at videolan.org, debated the possibility of updating the licensing terms for future version of the VLC media player and other hosted projects, to version 3 of the GPL. [...] There is strong concern that these new additional requirements might not match the industrial and economic reality of our time, especially in the market of consumer electronics. It is our belief that changing our licensing terms to GPL version 3 would currently not be in the best interest of our community as a whole. Consequently, we plan to keep distributing future versions of VLC media player under the terms of the GPL version 2. |publisher=videolan.org |accessdate=2015-11-21 |first=Rémi |last=Denis-Courmont}}</ref>
Apple, a user of GCC and a heavy user of both DRM and patents, switched the compiler in its Xcode IDE from GCC to Clang, which is another FOSS compiler but is under a permissive license. LWN speculated that Apple was motivated partly by a desire to avoid GPLv3. The Samba project also switched to GPLv3, which Apple replaced in their software suite with a closed-source, proprietary software alternative.
Mergers have affected major open-source software. Sun Microsystems (Sun) acquired MySQL AB, owner of the popular open-source MySQL database, in 2008.
Oracle in turn purchased Sun in January, 2010, acquiring their copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Thus, Oracle became the owner of both the most popular proprietary database and the most popular open-source database. Oracle's attempts to commercialize the open-source MySQL database have raised concerns in the FOSS community. Partly in response to uncertainty about the future of MySQL, the FOSS community forked the project into new database systems outside of Oracle's control. These include MariaDB, Percona, and Drizzle. All of these have distinct names; they are distinct projects and can not use the trademarked name MySQL.
In August, 2010, Oracle sued Google, claiming that its use of Java in Android infringed on Oracle's copyrights and patents. The Oracle v. Google case ended in May 2012, with the finding that Google did not infringe on Oracle's patents, and the trial judge ruled that the structure of the Java APIs used by Google was not copyrightable. The jury found that Google infringed a small number of copied files, but the parties stipulated that Google would pay no damages. Oracle appealed to the Federal Circuit, and Google filed a cross-appeal on the literal copying claim. Oracle won the appeal, but Google won a subsequent retrial in 2016.
Naming
Alternative terms for free software
Alternative terms for free software
Free software
Richard Stallman's Free Software Definition, adopted by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), defines free software as a matter of liberty, not price. The earliest known publication of the definition of his free software idea was in the February 1986 edition of the FSF's now-discontinued GNU's Bulletin publication. The canonical source for the document is in the philosophy section of the GNU Project website. As of April 2008, it is published there in 39 languages.
Open source
The Open Source Definition is used by the Open Source Initiative to determine whether a software license qualifies for the organization's insignia for open-source software. The definition was based on the Debian Free Software Guidelines, written and adapted primarily by Bruce Perens. Perens did not base his writing on the four freedoms of free software from the Free Software Foundation, which were only later available on the web. Perens later stated that he felt Eric Raymond's promotion of open source unfairly overshadowed the Free Software Foundation's efforts and reaffirmed his support for free software.
FOSS
The first known use of the phrase free open-source software on Usenet was in a posting on 18 March 1998, just a month after the term open source itself was coined.
In February 2002, F/OSS appeared on a Usenet newsgroup dedicated to Amiga computer games. In early 2002, MITRE used the term FOSS in what would later be their 2003 report "Use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of Defense."
FLOSS
In 2001, the European Commission (EC) first used the phrase FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open-Source Software) in a study they funded prepared under the leadership of Rishab Ghosh.
Unlike libre software, which aimed to solve the ambiguity problem, FLOSS aimed to avoid taking sides in the debate over whether it was better to say "free software" or to say "open-source software" its source code is available to study and modify
.
Proponents of the term point out that parts of the FLOSS acronym can be translated into other languages, with for example the F representing free (English) or frei (German), and the L representing libre (Spanish or French), livre (Portuguese), or libero (Italian), liber (Romanian) and so on. However, this term is not often used in official, non-English, documents, since the words in these languages for free as in freedom do not have the ambiguity problem of free in English.
By the end of 2004, the FLOSS acronym had been used in official English documents issued by South Africa, Spain, and Brazil.
Dualism of FOSS
The primary license difference between free software and open source is one of philosophy. According to the Free Software Foundation, "Nearly all open source software is free software. The two terms describe almost the same category of software, but they stand for views based on fundamentally different values."
Thus, the Open Source Initiative considers many free software licenses to also be open-source. These include the latest versions of the FSF's three main licenses: the GPL, the Lesser General Public License (LGPL), and the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL).
Adoption Adoption by governments
Adoption of free and open-source software by public institutions
"We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable -- one that would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust, or adapt, we could." Official statement of the United Space Alliance, which manages the computer systems for the International Space Station (ISS), regarding why they chose to switch from Windows to Linux on the ISS.
The Government of Kerala, India, announced its official support for free/open-source software in its State IT Policy of 2001, which was formulated after the first-ever free software conference in India, Freedom First!'', held in July 2001 in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala. In 2009, Government of Kerala started the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS). In March 2015 the Indian government announced a policy on adoption of open source software.
In the German City of Munich, conversion of 15,000 PCs and laptops from Microsoft Windows-based operating systems to a Debian-based Linux environment called LiMux spanned the ten years of 2003 to 2013. After successful completion of the project, more than 80% of all computers were running Linux.
In 2004, a law in Venezuela (Decree 3390) went into effect, mandating a two-year transition to open source in all public agencies. As of June 2009, this ambitious transition was still under way. Malaysia launched the "Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software Program", saving millions on proprietary software licenses until 2008.
In 2005 the Government of Peru voted to adopt open source across all its bodies. The 2002 response to Microsoft's critique is available online. In the preamble to the bill, the Peruvian government stressed that the choice was made to ensure that key pillars of democracy were safeguarded: "The basic principles which inspire the Bill are linked to the basic guarantees of a state of law." In September, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced its formal adoption of the OpenDocument standard for all Commonwealth entities.
In 2006, the Brazilian government has simultaneously encouraged the distribution of cheap computers running Linux throughout its poorer communities by subsidizing their purchase with tax breaks.
In April 2008, Ecuador passed a similar law, Decree 1014, designed to migrate the public sector to Libre Software.
In February 2009, the United States White House moved its website to Linux servers using Drupal for content management.
In March 2009, the French Gendarmerie Nationale announced it will totally switch to Ubuntu by 2015. The Gendarmerie began its transition to open source software in 2005 when it replaced Microsoft Office with OpenOffice.org across the entire organization.
In January 2010, the Government of Jordan announced a partnership with Ingres Corporation (now named Actian), an open source database management company based in the United States, to promote open-source software use, starting with university systems in Jordan.
In September 2014, the Uganda National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U) announced a call for feedback on an Open Source Strategy & Policy at a workshop in conjunction with the ICT Association of Uganda (ICTAU).
FOSS and Benkler's new economy
According to Yochai Benkler, Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, free software is the most visible part of a new economy of commons-based peer production of information, knowledge, and culture. As examples, he cites a variety of FOSS projects, including both free software and open-source.
This new economy is already under development. To commercialize FOSS, many companies move towards advertisement-supported software. In such a model, the only way to increase revenue is to make the advertisement more valuable. Facebook has recently been criticized for using novel methods of tracking users to accomplish this.
This new economy has alternatives. Apple's App Stores have proven very popular with both users and developers. The Free Software Foundation considers Apple's App Stores to be incompatible with its GPL and complained that Apple was infringing on the GPL with its iTunes terms of use. Rather than change those terms to comply with the GPL, Apple removed the GPL-licensed products from its App Stores
. boring See also FLOSS Manuals FLOSS Weekly Free software community Free software license
Graphics hardware and FOSS
List of free and open source software packages
List of formerly proprietary software
Open-source license
Outline of free software
Notes Citations References
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Govt-announces-policy-on-open-source-software/articleshow/46745926.cms Government announces policy on open source software
Freedom in the Commons: Towards a Political Economy of Information http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?52+Duke+L.+J.+1245+pdf
International Space Station adopts Debian Linux, drops Windows & Red Hat into airlock http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/open-source-insider/2013/05/international-space-station-adopts-debian-linux-drop-windows-red-hat-into-airlock.html
Apple's Selective Contributions to GCC
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1656616 Open Standards, Open Source Adoption in the Public Sector, and Their Relationship to Microsoft’s Market Dominance Standards Edge: Unifier or Divider?
Microsoft Raps Open-Source Approach http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-257001.html&tag=mncol%3btxt
http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196901596&subSection=Open+Source Study Finds Open Source Benefits Business http://www.webcitation.org/5TchF5fkl
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/29/peru_goes_open_source/ Peru's parliament approves pro-open source bill
Facebook tracking prompts calls for FTC investigation http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/facebook-tracking-prompts-calls-for-ftc-investigation/2011/09/29/gIQAVdsP8K_story.html
Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software
IBM and the U.S. Data Processing Industry: An Economic History
International Space Station to boldly go with Linux over Windows http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10049444/International-Space-Station-to-boldly-go-with-Linux-over-Windows.html
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=168600351 LinuxWorld Showcases Open-Source Growth, Expansion http://www.webcitation.org/5Tchd69ij
Apple Ditches SAMBA in Favour of Homegrown Replacement http://www.osnews.com/story/24572/
http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20121005082638280
Open Source, MySQL, and trademarks http://www.opensource.org/node/496
Oracle agrees to 'zero' damages in Google lawsuit, eyes appeal http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9228298/Oracle_agrees_to_zero_damages_in_Google_lawsuit_eyes_appeal
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/03/french-police-saves-millions-of-euros-by-adopting-ubuntu.ars French police: we saved millions of euros by adopting Ubuntu
http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/opensources/book/perens.html Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution
Non-Oracle MySQL fork deemed ready for prime time http://www.infoworld.com/article/2623894/linux/non-oracle-mysql-fork-deemed-ready-for-prime-time.html
Why Open Source misses the point of Free Software https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html
Oracle offers commercial extensions to MySQL http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/16/oracle_commercial_extensions_mysql/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/174746/obama_invites_open_source_into_the_white_house.html Obama Invites Open Source into the White House
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/no-gpl-apps-for-apples-app-store/8046
Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software
Further reading
http://www.gnu.org.ua/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source" http://www.webcitation.org/5TchyyzYm
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050327184603969
Commercial Free and Open Source Software: Knowledge Production, Hybrid Appropriability, and Patents http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol77/iss5/4
Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers! http://www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_why.html
External links
FLOSSworld: Free/Libre/Open Source Software: Worldwide impact study
Free / Open Source Research Community (mit.edu)
FreeOpenSourceSoftware.org: Wiki on FOSS history, organizations, licenses, people, software.
International Free and Open Source Software Foundation |
Source: No Result View All Result Subscribe Finance Technology Marketing Human Resources Insurance Legal Procurement eCommerce Leadership Advertisement No Result View All Result Subscribe No Result View All Result Subscribe Software
What is open source software and how does it work?
A complete guide to open source software, how it works and how it can be the free, flexible solution for any of your private or business needs
By Editorial team |
Updated July 27, 2021
(Published 4/11/2013) Related posts
What is proprietary software and how does it work?
Top 46 open source software applications
What is VAT and how does it work?
Open source software
refers to software released without the usual copyright restrictions. This means the developer/s who invented are happy for other people to use their software for their own purposes, adapt and develop it as they see fit. More often than not, open source software is free, too, making it the perfect solution for individuals and businesses alike.
Related posts
Top 46 open source software applications
What is proprietary software and how does it work?
What is a content management system (CMS)?
Developers release open source software without restrictions into the public domain. This means anybody can inspect, study and modify the software’s ‘source code’, its building blocks, whether that’s to understand how it works, change it for their own purposes or make improvements for other users. Beyond this, a key characteristic of open source software is that users are allowed to distribute the software on, with or without changes they’ve made, to anybody they like. There’s therefore no “end product” when it comes to open source software – it’s constantly evolving as different users and developers collaborate from all over the world.
Examples of open source products such as WordPress (
a content management system
), Open Office, the internet browser Mozilla Firefox, Wikipedia, the GNU/Linux operating system and its derivative Android, an operating system for mobile devices.
This comprehensive guide takes you through all you need to know about open source software, in the following sections:
What is open source software?
Types of open source license
Advantages of the open source model
Disadvantages of the open source model
Why make software open source?
The history of open source
Final thoughts & FAQ’s
What is open source software?
What specifically makes software open source is the license attached to it. Open source licenses, sometimes known as free software licenses, can be implicit or explicit. They are unique in that they grant users ample freedom over the product: specifically the freedom to alter and redistribute the software, which is something usually
prohibited by copyright law
. When a rights-holder chooses to remove these restrictions, they do so by using a free software licence or open source software license, meaning that users have free reign over the software without paying any fees to the original creator.
The opposite of open source software is proprietary software, where only the individual creator/s, or the business who created it, has the right to control or modify the source code. Examples of proprietary software include Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop – paying customers may use the software, but they may use it only for the purposes expressly permitted by the creator/s.
Open source software is often confused with freeware, but the two are very different. Freeware refers to software that users can download and use entirely for free, at no cost. However, they don’t have the right to change the source code.
The versatility of open source software means you can use it for almost anything. For businesses, OS software solutions can help you with accounting, customer relations management, enterprise resource management and even point of sale transactions. Many professions rely daily on OS software, such as photographers using video editing software and offices relying on LibreOffice. Less technical OS software includes many of the most popular video and music players.
Types of open source license
There is a range of open source licenses available to software creators. While they all follow the main principles and criteria of open source software, they differ slightly in the extent to which they allow users to modify the source code, and under which conditions. Some of the most popular licenses are:
MIT license: Originating at MIT, this license permits users to modify original code with very few restrictions. It’s GPL compatible meaning that users can relicense MIT software as GPL software. The MIT license also allows users to relicense its software as proprietary software, which is how it differs from copyleft software licenses.
GNU General Public license (GPL) 2.0./3.0.: Anyone who writes software code under GPL must release it as open source, too. Users must share the full source code and all rights to change and share all of the code.
Apache license 2.0: This license has stricter rulers, particularly when it comes to redistribution. If you issue an Apache license, you can freely use, modify and share software code. If users want to redistribute derivative code, they must provide explicit statements to say that the files have been modified.
Common Development and Distribution license 1.0 (CDDL-1.0): All users who own a CDDL can reproduce and distribute any original work or derivative work. However, they cannot then go on to copyright, trademark or make any patent changes. Developers must make any modified versions of the source code available under CDDL.
The final category is BSD licenses. The BSD license places fewer restrictions on its developers, though there’s disagreement over whether this makes the software freer or not.
The main difference with the BSD license is that users are allowed to use and manipulate the program’s source code, but they aren’t obliged to then share their modifications back to the community. This means they can keep any improvements for personal gain, and market the new product under a commercial license. Although this type of license affords the developer more freedom, many supporters of the open source philosophy feel this goes against the ethos of the initiative.
Open source Vs free licenses software
We often hear open source software used interchangeably with free license software. The two are mostly similar, although the OSS criteria issued by the
Open Source Initiative
came almost ten years after the free licence software, and places a greater emphasis on modifications to the software. A common misconception is that free license software or open source software refers to the price, and are therefore free. While many do happen to be free, it’s not a condition, and there are many paid OS software solutions.
Advantages of the open source model
Many people, both individuals and companies, prefer to use open source software over propriety or commercial software. There are a number of reasons for this, including:
It’s predominantly free – estimations show that open source software collectively saves businesses almost £50 billion a year. Companies benefit from open sourcing their creations, as they can profit from the modifications, updates and improvements made by the world’s best programmers worldwide, without having to pay a penny.
Versatility – using open source software means you aren’t locked into using a particular vendor’s system that only works with their other systems. You can adapt it to your needs and use it in conjunction with other vendors’ products.
Security – a lot of people prefer working with open source software because of the transparency it offers. As the source is publicly accessible, thousands of programmers are continually studying, inspecting and reviewing the code. This means there’s far less room for error – somebody is bound to spot omissions or bugs and fix or remove them.
Rapid evolution – Not only does software usually evolve faster when its open source, it also evolves
faster
. Not having to request permission from the original authors to modify software means that development happens more quickly.
Community – open source software represents a philosophy. OSS inspires collaboration from a community of users and developers around the world to make the software the best it can be.
Training – promoting this exchange of knowledge also makes the industry far more accessible to people looking to learn about coding and programming. Open source software provides a vast, ever-growing resource for programmers and coders, allowing far more people to become
proficient software developers and innovators.
Stability – it’s also often far more stable for a company to base their software and operations on open source software. As so many developers and programmers are constantly updating it in the public domain, there’s little risk that the software will stop being available, which makes it a reliable option for longer-term products.
Disadvantages of the open source model
While the benefits of open source software are considerable, there are a few drawbacks to consider:
Not as ‘user-friendly’ – as there is no requirement to create a commercial product that will sell and generate money, open source software can tend to evolve more in line with developers’ wishes than the needs of the end-user. As such, the software is usually harder to use and less user-friendly, as developers pay less attention to the user interface.
If you’re a small company basing your software on open source software, bear in mind that no one is required to help you if things go wrong. Open source software tends to rely on its community of users to respond to and fix problems. While there’s no shortage of help available in the wider community, you may have to pay the price for external support, and it may take longer than had you paid for software under a commercial license.
Although having an open system means that there are many people identifying bugs and fixing them, it also means that malicious users can potentially view it and exploit any vulnerabilities.
Why make software open source?
Technology is continually evolving, updating and adapting to better fit our daily needs. Google’s innovative artificial intelligence engine, Tensorflow, is the technology behind its cutting-edge tools which recognise spoken words and search photos. Why, then, did Google make Tensorflow open source in 2015?
The simple answer is that more heads together equals more progress. They hoped that by opening up the table to other developers, they could create software better suited to their needs. More than 1,300 external developers have now worked on TensorFlow. This collaboration has meant that it’s now one of the standard frameworks used to develop AI applications, which will help Google’s own cloud-hosted AI services, thus completing the circle. By putting the code out in the open, Google has ensured that they can profit from better software which will continue to evolve.
Opening the software up to the public also provides good promotion. When Google released its TensorFlow, it sparked significant interest in the software, now used by the likes of Dropbox and Airbnb. All in all, contributing to open source software has mutual benefits for all the parties involved, making sure nobody misses out on the latest improvements.
The critical thing to remember is that each company manipulates the source code for their own uses. The idea isn’t to replicate and privatise the same design but to share base knowledge to create different solutions for differing purposes, at the same time benefitting from the experience, expertise and improvements made by others. The open-source development model encourages open collaboration, driven by peer production, benefitting millions of users worldwide.
The history of open source
When software was in its early youth, it was commonplace to share software and source code, particularly in universities or research organisations. However, in 1974, the U.S. Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) declared software as copyrightable. Software, therefore, gained the same status as literary works, which kickstarted the licensing of software. From then on, purchasing software didn’t mean you could use the source code, or even see it, let alone manipulate it for your own uses or pass it on.
This change took away from the collaboration that many software developers had been enjoying. In 1983, a man named Richard Stallman released a free alternative to the popular operating system at the time, Unix, dubbing the free version GNU. GNU was an attempt to bring back open collaboration amongst developers, and he released his code under a GNU Public License, known as a GPL, which gave users the freedom to use the code.
The GPL was crucial in establishing a new culture of collaboration, as the license also stipulated that any derivatives of the original code must also remain under a GPL license, keeping the code firmly within the public domain. In the late 90s, many companies and programmers pushed a similar movement with greater stress on the business potential of sharing and collaborating on software code, adopting the term open source.
Final thoughts & FAQ’s
Whether you’re a new start-up, formidable enterprise, or just an individual, open source software can be an innovative, cost-effective solution for any of your online, PC or business needs. The collaborative ethos of OS software means users have access to the latest improvements, allowing even the smallest of businesses to integrate cutting edge software solutions without having to shell out for expensive proprietary software.
What is source code?
Source code essentially forms the basis of any programming. It’s plain text, human-readable programming which gives instructions to the computer. By inspecting software’s source code, you can learn about how it works. Developers can then use this source code to write more code and program a computer to perform other actions.
Several prominent programmers soon supported the initiative and followed Stallman’s example, one of the most notable being Linus Torvalds, the brains behind the Linux operating system. Linux provided the basis for Android, which today powers more than 86% of smartphones worldwide
according to IDC
. Its open source license means anybody can view, modify and share the code behind the vast majority of smartphones. It’s no surprise, then, that over 15,000 programmers worldwide are involved in maintaining Android.
Related topics Tags: Open source Types of software Related Posts Software
Top 46 open source software applications
There is a staggering amount of open source software available online. Almost every paid, proprietary software has an impressive open...
Published by Andrew Thompson 8th June 2022 Read more Software
What is proprietary software and how does it work?
Proprietary software is software which is owned by an individual or company. It's therefore subject to copyright laws, and only...
Published by Andrew Thompson 7th October 2021 Read more Software
What is a content management system (CMS)?
A content management system is a computer programme which allows several users to share files and other content. It is...
Published by Editorial team 27th July 2021 Read more Advertisement Advertisement
Copyright © 2013 – 2024 Entrepreneur Handbook Ltd. All rights reserved. Registered offices at 20-22 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU, UK.
Sections Finance Technology Marketing Human resources Insurance Legal Procurement eCommerce Leadership Luxury Start a business Information Advertise with us Privacy policy Terms of use Contact us
Copyright © 2013 – 2024 Entrepreneur Handbook Ltd. All rights reserved. Registered offices at 20-22 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU, UK.
Finance Technology Marketing Human resources Insurance Legal Procurement eCommerce Leadership Advertise with us Privacy policy Terms of use Contact us
Copyright © 2013 - 2024 Entrepreneur Handbook Ltd. All rights reserved. Registered offices at 20-22 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU, United Kingdom. |