Open Source technology to unlock your business potential
| What is Open Source? |
| Articles & Information - Tech Talk | |
What is Open Source?Software that runs on your computer is built up from many levels of code or instructions. Almost all of the commercial software sold over the last few decades has been designed to obscure and hide this code to make it difficult for others to copy or reuse the code. This protection enables the creator to have full ownership of the code and be the only source of upgrades, modifications and provide full control.In contrast to this, Open Source software is typically provided with the source code in a format that anyone familiar with the language can have full access to it. Some Open Source licenses demand that the code is provided with the software and must be provided if the software is sold on. With this approach, developers can pick up on an original concept, enhance it and redistribute the code. Then, further developers may review the code, add better user interaction or security and so on. Over time, the software evolves in to robust and secure applications. It has been hard for commercial organisations to compete with Open Source as the end product is likely to be higher quality due to the quantity of different perspectives involved in the creation. In addition, a code author will think more carefully about how they write if they believe others will review and critique their work. Open Source prevents “Vendor lock-in” where only the original creator of the software can add further value and support. This enables a user to access many competing organisations for the best services and removes the risk where the original provider becomes unable to respond to future requirements. Although Open Source software can be charged for, charges are usually only applied where value is added. This may be in the form of consultancy where the correct solution is sourced, or where installation or support is provided to supplement use of an Open Source solution. There is great scope to develop existing Open Source applications or to collate different packages to provide a new composite solution and provide the best possible solution. One of the most common and popular Open Source applications is Linux. This comprises of a complete computer operating system and an open-source kernel enabling many desktop options through to server systems. Another very popular Open Source application is OpenOffice. Many users have adopted this as an alternative to Microsoft Office providing a free and powerful desktop office suite. Traditionally, upgrades of Office packages have provided new document formats which force others to also upgrade in order to read the documents. Open standards natively used in Open Source applications do not require application upgrades therefore reducing direct costs in addition associated to IT and training overhead. During 2005, Apple released a new version of the Operating System OS X to replace the existing "Tiger" version. The new version was based on Open Source software and has proven to be a complete success. |
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