Open Source Software

Open source software is becoming widely accepted as industry standard. Open source is software that is authored by anyone who has something valuable to offer. There is an open source application for almost every computing need. Open source software is secure, well tested and often free to the public. Large corporations are buying open source applications for large amounts of money. In many cases, open source software is giving the software giants such as Microsoft some stiff competition.

The days of paying hundreds, or even thousands of dollars for an operating system are long gone. No longer is the choice just Microsoft or Macintosh, now there is open source software. System Administrators and even end users are no longer at the mercy of the software giants who dictate what software must be used and how it is used.

In the past, when an application or computer software was needed, a company or user would look to Microsoft or other large software vendors to buy software. The software provided by these vendors is secure, user-friendly and industry standard. If there are any issues, the software vendors provided technical support. Periodic upgrades, patches, and bug fixes are also made available to customers. For most companies or computer users, this is an excellent solution.

Open source software is an operating system or application that is published under a license that allows anyone rights to the source code. The source code of the open source software can be altered by anyone who would like to make changes or customizations. The open source application can then be redistributed. Open source software typically is free and can be downloaded from the internet or can be purchased on compact disc.

There is an old saying “too many cooks spoil the broth” not when it comes to open source software. The idea of open source software is that people are smarter as a group, than as individuals. This theory makes sense and open source works. Millions of users have proven that open source is an excellent solution and provides useful tools, for free, to many computing needs.

Unlike the past, computer users now have two options, they can purchase software from software vendors or they can use open source software. There are advantages to both. Each situation should be evaluated carefully before making a decision. Each solution has a different set of problems and strengths.

Buying software from a vendor is an excellent solution for computer users who are not very computer-savvy. Since software can be very expensive, software vendors will provide support, documentation, upgrades and help to users. For most computer users, this solution is very appealing. They know they will get secure, well tested software and a company to help them if there are any issues.

Open source software is an excellent choice for the intermediate to advanced computer user. Since it is open source there is not one vendor or company users can go to for help and upgrades. However, there is a tight community of people who can help, usually in forums or message boards. Open source software often has new releases very frequently to make the software more secure, user friendly, and to fix known issues. Open source software has built up a cult-like following. Many of open source supporters will only use open source software and consider the major software companies to be “evil.”

There are many types of open source software, such as complete operating systems, email clients, internet browsers, word processors, spreadsheets, graphics programs, audio programs, RSS aggregators, remote access, file transfer, firewall, security, audio and video editors, and complete programming languages and many more. Some of the common open source applications are Linux, Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office, Audacity, WordPress, Drupal, to name a few. Basically, if there is something that needs to be done with a computer, there is open source software to get the job done.

Oftentimes the open source software is modeled from other well known software applications. Programmers will reverse engineer an application and create an open source version. Close attention is paid to the look, feel and usability of the original software. For instance, Open Office is an open source version of Microsoft Office. These open source knock-offs are also compatible with the original, so documents and files can be shared with users of both.

Open source software is created to fill a specific need. For instance, blogging has become very popular; WordPress is a very common open source blogging platform. The open source community saw the need for basic users to create blogs quickly and easily, WordPress has made this possible. Microsoft has done an excellent job with the Office products and Adobe has done well with Acrobat and Photoshop. It is likely that these companies will stick to their popular software, after all this is what makes them millions. It is unlikely that these companies will try to fill any specific needs like blogging any time soon.

One of the most common uses for open source software is operating systems for servers. Linux has become extremely popular to run on servers. Linux is quickly becoming the industry standard for servers, giving Microsoft some stiff competition.  As open source software becomes the industry standard, maybe the closed source giants such as Microsoft will open up source code to the public.

Microsoft has embraced open source thinking by opening up some of their dialogue with their users. Microsoft has created forums and message boards to get valuable customer feedback about how to make Microsoft products more secure and user friendly.

Many end users are also finding open source software to be a perfect choice for browsing and email as well as many other personal computer applications. Many users are using open source and are not even aware that it is open source. The lines between software giants and open source applications are becoming blurred as exceptional new applications appear almost every day. Firefox is an open source web browser that is quickly becoming as popular as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Many corporations are concerned about permission, support,  and security. Unlike Microsoft, open source software does not have the gaping holes that are often exploited by virus writers and hackers. Open source does not require frequent patches and upgrades. The concern of lack of support should not even be an issue as most open source software have loyal user communities. There are thousands of people who will answer questions and even help out when needed, for free. There are also message boards and forums that are easily used to answer questions quickly.

The downside to open source is it typically requires more know-how from users. There is also the problem of finding the most recent and stable version. As well as, spending time on message boards looking for answers.

System administrators can save a company money by using open source software. Closed source software is expensive and requires annual license renewal as well as upgrades. Open source is free, the price is right. Better yet open source software is cutting edge and can be customized to meet the needs of the company.

People often say “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” This is not true with open source software, just because it is free, does not mean that it is inferior. Countless hours are spent developing, and thousands of people have input into what gets created. This overall sense of community is an excellent way to fill a need, a general consensus of useful computing tools.

Most open source applications are well tested and user friendly. With a large open source community, there are always new plugins, add ons, templates and tools to save time. Plugins are items that can be added to the software to increase functionality. Users do not have to wait until the next version is released, simply find the necessary plugin and customize the application to fit personal needs, without any programming whatsoever.

Who does make a profit from open source? In the past most open source software applications were not intended to make a profit, but lately the large corporations are buying up the open source software. One example is Sun Microsystems just recently bought MySQL for one billion dollars.

Open source has also made an impact on the internet.  The web is becoming extremely interactive, with blogs, wikis, forums, video and image sharing sites, users are now allowed to interact, vote and give an opinion on content. These sites allow and promote an open conversation. How valuable would it be for a company to get instant feedback on a new product from millions of users?  This can be done by simply creating a blog or message board on the corporate website and inviting users to share their honest opinion.

Not only are servers, personal computers and the internet places to find open source, but music is becoming open source. Many artists today are releasing music that can be remixed by listeners. With mash-ups and remixes becoming extremely popular, more artists will release open source music in the future.

In the future, you will see more open source software becoming available. Open source will become industry standard and will be very common among computer users. The large software companies will continue to buy up the open source applications. Hopefully, the large software companies will see the benefits of open source and start releasing some of their code to the public.

Computer users and administrators should think twice about spending thousands of dollars on software, and look to open source. There is an open source application for almost everything these days. If saving money, security, support and cutting edge technology is important, open source is the right choice.

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