Advantages of Open Source Software
The benefits of open source is tremendous and has gained huge popularity in the field of IT in recent years. This is mainly because the advantages of open-source software is that it’s free to use – its greatest advantage. As it is developed by a non-profit community, it has some disadvantages as well.
Open-source software is free to use, distribute, and modify. It has lower costs, and in most cases this is only a fraction of the cost of their proprietary counterparts.
Open-source software is more secured as the code is accessible to everyone. Anyone can fix bugs as they are found, and users do not have to wait for the next release. The fact that is continuously analyzed by a large community produces secure and stable code.
Open source is not dependent on the company or author that originally created it. Even if the company fails, the code continues to exist and be developed by its users. Also, it uses open standards accessible to everyone; thus, it does not have the problem of incompatible formats that exist in proprietary software.
Lastly, the companies using open-source software do not have to think about complex licensing models and do not need anti-piracy measures like product activation or serial number.
Disadvantages
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The main disadvantage of open-source software is not being straightforward to use. Open-source operating systems like Linux cannot be learned in a day. They require effort and possibly training from your side before you are able to master them. You may need to hire a trained person to make things easier, but this will incur additional costs.
There is a shortage of applications that run both on open source and proprietary software; therefore, switching to an open-source platform involves a compatibility analysis of all the other software used that run on proprietary platforms. In addition, there are many ongoing parallel developments on open source software. This creates confusion on what functionalities are present in which versions.
Lastly, many of the latest hardware are incompatible to the open-source platform; so you have to rely on third-party drivers.
Advantages
The decision of adopting open-source software should not be taken just on the basis of the low-cost involved. It entails a detailed analysis and understanding of the requirements before switching to open source to get full benefits of it.
By Jack Rosenblum
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Lesson 7: Open Source vs. Closed Source Software
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Open source vs. closed source software
Almost every piece of computer software is created using source code, which is the technical blueprint that tells a program how to function. When creators release their finished product to the public, they must decide whether to make its code open source or closed source.
Watch the video below to learn more about open source and closed source software.
What is open source and closed source?
With closed source software [also known as proprietary software], the public is not given access to the source code, so they can’t see or modify it in any way.
But with open source software, the source code is publicly available to anyone who wants it, and programmers can read or change that code if they desire. Keep in mind that you don’t have to read or modify any code in order to use an open source product.
Which type is more common?
The vast majority of apps, games, and other popular software is closed source. However, there are open source options for many types of programs. If you want an open source alternative to Microsoft Office, you could use LibreOffice. Instead of using Windows, you could try an open source Linux operating system. Other common open source examples include the Firefox web browser and WordPress blogging platform.
What are the pros and cons?
One of open source’s biggest advantages is that it’s usually free, although some features and technical support may cost extra. Also, because the code is available to anyone who wants it, public collaboration can fix bugs, add features, and improve performance within a relatively short amount of time.
However, open source software isn’t perfect. It may not be as user friendly as closed source software, and if you run into trouble it may be difficult to find technical support, especially for less popular programs.
Closed source software is more likely to be a stable, focused product, and if you need support customer service is
typically easier to access. However, closed source software often costs money, and if it has any bugs or missing features you’ll have to wait on the creator to address the problems.
Now that you understand the difference between open and closed source software, you can take advantage of the type that best meets your needs.
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