Yesterday in class someone posed the question "Why do people release this software for free?" Open source is something I feel very strongly about, but I couldn't quite put into words why it even existed.
Although the free software movement did not 'officially' start until 1983, open source software has been around for as long as computers have. The idea of sharing your code in order for other programmers to improve it has been an integral idea behind software development for decades. Many developers of open source hold down a full time job - they view open source as a hobby. Others work for universities and receive grants in order to create new systems and improve existing ones. Some companies sell support for open source software, like Red Hat Linux, in order to cover costs of developing it. In order to be allowed to redistribute Linux, they MUST release the software for free and the source code along with it under the GNU license(Linux nerds like recursive acronyms, GNU stands for 'GNU's Not Unix').
Open source is an idea - its the belief that software should be open, available, and free. The users of open source software are its developers as well. You may not know it, but if you use open source and find a bug and then email the developers or post on a message board, you are part of the development team. This idea keeps us moving forward, even when commercial software like Windows and Office dominate the market
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Yes sir I love open source software as well. I look at it as a black market for computer geeks. Have you ever wrote a developer about a bug or some coding that could be better? That would feel like a huge accomplishment to me if I did lol. Do you have any personal favorite open source software?
ReplyDeleteAndrew Poswal
ReplyDeleteI agree, open source is a great way to see where things will be in the future. If were an technology exec i would keep my eyes open to what new open source software is out there, because the way technology develops all it takes is one set of code to a software that will change the game for ever. Open Source is where the future is, and I'm all for it.