Open Source software

The Future of Open Source Software

This is an advertisement for Open Source Software which shows the benefits of Open Source to consumers, and illustrates the impacts it inevitably has on society.

“Those who don’t make their programs Open Source are finding it difficult to compete with those who do, as users gain a new appreciation of the rights they always should have had” (Perens, 2008).

What is the future of Open Source software? In a world where Microsoft increasingly threatens to dominate computing and the Internet, the strongest potential rival to its dominance is no longer its traditional commercial rivals but, surprisingly, a seemingly motley collection of free software tools and operating systems collectively dubbed “Open Source” software. Unlike most commercial software, the core code of such software can be easily studied by other programmers and improved upon – the only proviso being that such improvements must also be revealed publicly and distributed freely in a process which encourages continual innovation.

Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, wrote its core code on a web server named Apache, and put together a set of updates to older software by a band of volunteer programmers. Richard M. Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and the GNU free operating system was then added to the Linux core, which was announced as the "GNU/Linux operating system. Now, these Open Source programs are emerging not just as inexpensive but as more robust and dynamic alternatives to commercial software. "Open source software emerged to a significant extent in response to the shortcomings in commercial software development, addressing fields of innovation and forms of software which for various reasons had not been covered sufficiently by the industrial process" (Bruns, 2008).

Companies now using Open Source software have a distinct advantage over proprietary users, with its rapid development and easy to use software.

As stated in one of my earlier blogs, “Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in” (opensource.org). “Open Source software means software that gives you four essential freedoms:

Freedom 0: the freedom to run the program as you wish.
Freedom 1: the freedom to study the source code, and change it to make the program do what you wish.
Freedom 2: the freedom to redistribute copies of the program when you wish.
Freedom 3: the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions when you wish” (Free Software Magazine, 2008).

The obvious benefits of Open Source including costs, speed, ownership of features and functionalities far exceed those of proprietary software, where the source code, creation of ideas, reviewing and testing are all kept in house to the developers of the software. "Open source has numerous benefits, including breaking the relentless hold of technology lock-in, and cost savings in acquisition and life-time support costs" (Agosta, Forrester Research qtd in. Walker, 2004). Putting together Open Source software is not as easy as it sounds: Open Source does not just mean access to the source code. It requires various distribution terms in which an Open Source program must comply with.

Despite all these challenges that arise from Open Source software, I predict that Open Source will conquer over proprietary software. “Already, research laboratories have adopted the Open Source model because the sharing of the information is essential to the scientific method, and Open Source allows software to be shared easily” (Perens, 2008). Also, businesses are slowly adopting the Open Source model as it collaborates groups together, and gives them the easy of solving problems without the threat of an anti-trust lawsuit. Large corporations have also adopted Open Source to combat Microsoft, and to assure that another Microsoft does not come to dominate the computer industry.

One of the most promising indications of the future of Open source is its past: in just a few years, it has changed the history of the computing industry, and millions of users have solved many different computing problems, and there is no stopping them anymore. Prosperity and Knowledge here we come!

References

Bruns, A. (2008). Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. Peter Lang. New York https://cmd.qut.edu.au/cmd//KCB201/KCB201_BK_163501.pdf (accessed 8 May, 2008).

Free Software Foundation. (2008). http://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software (accessed 1 May, 2008).

Perens, B. (2008). The Open Source Definition. Open Source Initiative. http://perens.com/OSD.html (accessed 1 May, 2008).

Kroperx. (2008). Open Source Ad. You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsZsC47Yza8 (accessed 6 May, 2008).

McGregor, C. (2008).Interview with Richard M. Stallman. Free Software Magazine: Issue 21 http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/interview_with_richard_stallman (accessed 2 Mayb, 2008).

Walker, T. (2004). The Future of Open Source in Government. gOSapps LLC http://www.oss-institute.org/newspdf/walker_oss_white_paper_2292004.pdf (accessed 5 May, 2008).