Rockford Solutions, Inc. : Web Design in Grand Rapids, MI
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| Why Open Source? Part 1 |
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| Written by James Andrew Scott |
| Tuesday, December 29 2009 11:26 am |
As a programmer, I'm often asked about open source software. What is it, exactly? How is different from proprietary software? Is it user-friendly? Is it secure? What about support and upgrades? These are all important questions and sometimes the answers aren't as simple as 'yes' or 'no'. So, allow me to take a minute or two and explain what open source software is, and how and why we make use of it at Rockford Solutions. Then we can start answering those questions and see what advantages an open source approach might offer you.
For anyone unfamiliar or unclear on the details, let me sum up what open source is. In a nutshell open source means that the source code for a given piece of software is freely available to download, use, modify, and redistribute under the same license as the original. If that still sounds like a mouthful of technical jargon, here are the major implications: Open source software is free of licensing and royalty fees. Open source software is always released under a free software license. The GNU General Public License and its variants are a typical example of such a license. Especially in a strained economy where most small businesses are strapped for cash, this makes open source software an attractive option. Open source software is developed and supported by the community. While the bottom line here may not be as clear as the price tag, community development and support offer significant advantages. Consider this: when you encounter bugs in your proprietary software, you're obliged to report the bugs to the publisher and wait until the publisher decides it's cost effective to fix the problem and then assign a team of staff members to a write and release a patch. That's a lot of waiting. With open source software, the source code is available to developers worldwide, any of whom may track down the bug and release a solution, all without any red tape. That means more options and less downtime. Open source software is driven by innovation. While this is more a matter of practice than definition, it deserves to be mentioned here. Major software corporations like to throw the word around, but innovation and creativity are the lifeblood of open source development. While big name companies thrive on name recognition and the captive-audience nature of their products, open source developers live on the usefulness and uniqueness their products offer. The rising success of Mozilla Firefox, Apache web server, MySQL database server, and numerous Linux operating systems are just a few examples of open source communities outpacing their commercial counterparts. Stay tuned for more... ...now read Part 2. |