Open source refers to a program or software in which the source code ( the form of the program when a programmer writes a program in a particular programming language) is available to the general public for use and /or modification from its original design free of charge. Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the change within the community.
Advantages of Open Source Software
- It's generally free - It has been estimated that open source software collectively saves businesses billions a year. These days for virtually every paid-for proprietary software system you will find an open-source version.
- It is continually evolving in real-time as developers add to it and modify it, which means it can be better quality and more secure and less prone to bugs than proprietary systems because it has so many users poring over it and weeding our problems.
- Using open-source software also means you are not locked into using a particular vendor's system that only works with their other systems.
- You can modify and adapt open source software for your own business requirements, something that is not possible with proprietary systems.
Disadvantages of Open Source Software
- Because there is no requirement to create a commercial product that will sell and generate money, open-source software can tend to evolve more in line with developers' wishes than the needs of the end-user.
- For the same reason, they can be less "user-friendly" and not as easy to use because less attention is paid to developing these interfaces.
- There may also be less support available for when things go wrong- open-source software tends to rely on its community of users to respond to and fix problems.
- Although the open-source software itself is mostly free, there may still be some indirect costs involved, such as paying for external support.
- Although having an open system means that there are many people identifying bugs and fixing them, it also means that malicious users can potentially view it and exploit any vulnerabilities.
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