Advantages of open source software - Essay Example

Introduction: Today open source software has become critical for almost every organization. Almost everything requires open source software, be ittelecommunication systems, inventory, accounting, personal productivity applications, contact management and operating systems amongst others. As far as the democracy peace and economy is concerned open software provides access to better technology to even those who cannot afford them. Since, technology is crucial to the economy in terms of the cost it saves by increasing the end productivity; the better access to technology has increased the productivity and thus the GDP of the entire world. Even cheaper technology is the success of most of the developing countries. The growth of the developing countries has provided better returns for the companies across the globe in-turn because they now have been able to easily get some part of their business outsourced to these destinations and decrease costs. This has lead to employing further more people and improving the technology further helping people across the world. Criteria for Open Source Software1: An open source refers to the free access to source code of the software. An open source refers to the following:- 1. Free Redistribution There should be no restriction on the selling of the software or different programs that constitute the software. There should be no royalty fee or any other fee required, in such a sale. 2. Source Code The source code should be available with the software and distribution in terms of the compiled form should also be available. There should be a well publicized form of distributing the software just like distributing on the internet when the product is not distributed with the source code. Deliberately the product should not be obfuscated 3. Derived Works The license should permit modifications and derived works, and should allow permit redistribution of it under similar terms as the original license of the product. 4. Integrity of the Author's Source Code If the license permits distribution of source code and "patch files" being modified at build time then only the license restricts source-code to be distributed in modified form. There should be permission by the license for the distribution of software which is made from modified source code. The license needs to have derived works for having a distinct name or version number. 5. No Discrimination against Persons or Groups The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons. It should be accessible to whoever wants. 6. No Discrimination against Fields of Endeavor The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a profit generation entity, or from being used for genetic research. 7. Distribution of License The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties. 8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution. 9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software. 10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface. Following are the examples of open source software2: Linux (http://www.linux.org/): Originating from UNIX system and basically an operating system and kernel. GNOME (http://www.gnome.org/): It is used for developing desktop applications from its various tools available for Linux and other UNIX systems. KDE (http://www.kde.org/): another desktop development environment. Apache (http://www.apache.org/): Apache is used for supplying pages in response to requests i.e. it is a web server program available for Windows, Linux and other UNIX systems. Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org/firefox/): A web browser used at client end for viewing and hearing web pages available for Windows and Mac as well as Linux and other UNIX systems. Dovecot (http://www.dovecot.org/): A program (for sending and receiving email) at the server end available for UNIX systems and Linux. It supports POP3 and IMAP. Postfix (see http://www.postfix.org): A program(for sending and receiving email) at the server end available for Linux and UNIX systems. It supports SMTP. SquirrelMail (http://squirrelmail.org/): An email application as a web client program. It supports IMAP AND SMTP available for Windows, Mac, Linux and other UNIX systems. Thunderbird (see http://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/): It is an email program that supports POP3, IMAP AND SMTP. Works at client end and is available for Windows, Mac, Linux and other UNIX systems. OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/): an office application set (for word processing, spreadsheet manipulation, picture drawing and data base access) compatible with all other major office application sets such as Office and available for Windows and Mac as well as Linux and other UNIX systems. KOffice: (http://www.koffice.org/): another office application set. Asterisk: (http://www.asterisk.org/): a Private Branch eXchange (PBX) providing features such as interactive voice response, conference bridging and call queuing (as well as analogue, digital and VoIP telephony), supporting H.323, SIP and IAX2 (and other VoIP protocols), and available for Mac as well as Linux and other UNIX systems. FreeSWITCH (http://www.freeswitch.org/): a VoIP development environment providing tools for developing applications like phones and switches, supporting H.323, SIP and IAX2 (and other VoIP protocols), and available for Windows and Mac as well as Linux and other UNIX systems. GnuGK (http://www.gnugk.org/): a VoIP gatekeeper (for some H.323 deployments) available for Windows and Mac as well as Linux and other UNIX systems. Advantages of Open Source Software: There are several advantages of using open source software. The following are a list of the advantages of opting for open source software: 1. Lesser hardware costs Since Linux and open source softwares are easily portable and compacted, it takes lesser hardware power to carry out the same tasks when compared to the hardware power it takes on servers, such as, Solaris, Windows or workstations. With this less hardware power advantage, even use of cheaper or older hardware can get the desired results. 2. High-quality software Open source software is mostly high-quality software. When you use the open source software, the source code is available. Most open source softwares are well-designed. Open source software can also be efficiently used in coding. These reasons make open source software an ideal choice for organizations and businesses. 3. No vendor lock-in IT managers in organizations face constant frustration and fear when dealing with vendor lock-ins'. Lack of portability, expensive license fees and inability to customize software are some of the other disadvantages. Using open source software gives more freedom to them and they can effectively address all these disadvantages. 4. Integrated management Open source software is also beneficial for integrated management. Open source software uses technologies, such as, common information model (CIM) and web based enterprise management (WBEM). These high-end technologies enable to integrate and combine server, application, service and workstation management. This integration would result in efficient administration and operation. 5. Simple license management When open source software is used, there is no need to worry about licenses. Open source software enables an organization to install it several times and also use it from any location. IT Manager will be free from monitoring, tracking or counting license compliance. 6. Lower software costs Using open source software can help to minimize the expenses as well. There would be savings on licensing fees and maintenance fees. The only expenses that a person would encounter would be expenditure for documentation, media and support. 7. Abundant support Ample support is given when a person uses open source software. Open source support is mostly freely available and can be easily accessed through online communities. There are also many software companies that provide free online help and also varied levels of paid support are present. Most organizations that create open source software solutions also provide maintenance and support system. 8. Scaling and consolidating Linux and open source software can be easily scaled. With varied options for clustering, load balancing and open source applications, such as email and database, IT manager using open source software can enable your organization to either scale up and achieve higher growth or consolidate and achieve more with less. Conclusion: The better access to technology has improved the knowledge level of people. They thus have better rationale in selecting the form of the government by making intelligent decisions. This has lead to a better affinity for democratic approach amongst them which finds favor with most of the people across the world and thus better level of peace. A report by the Standish Group3 indicates that adoption of 'open source' has caused a drop in revenue to the proprietary software industry by about $60 billion per year. The report identifies the value of these 'open source' products to be about 6% of the world market for software. So now it is the time, to get out into the corporate world and explain to the most senior management the cost savings that can be achieved through using open source software. That will mean that the squeeze will be put on IT departments to come up with more sustainable plans for their purchasing. This will create more demand for open source software consultants and paid posts for open source software programmers and experts. Works Cited: "Advantages of open source software." Outsource2India.com. 13 May 2009. Coar, Ken. "The Open Source Definition." 24 July 2006. Open Source Initiative. 13 May 2009. "Examples of Open source software." Information for Development program and International Telecommunication Union. 13 May 2009. . Rothwel, Richard. "Creating wealth with free software." Free Software Magazine. 13 May 2009. Read More