Open Source

Put simply Open source software is where some geek is losing out by not selling the licence to use that software. It is free but not necessarily the same as what is known as freeware. More specifically open source is where the source code is openly available to be poke and prodded and shared, it does not mean computers running open source are more open to attack from outside by hacker and viruses.

The idea is that if your code is freely available then an extended community of well meaning volunteer programmers get to fix any bugs, generally improve it and add functionality, all for free. The only catch is that they cannot pass it all off as all your own work and flog it.

Examples of open source software include Mozilla Firefox, the Linux operating system and the programming language, PHP.

These freebies can be used in making other software that is not free or they enable other goods and services. So the programmers can pay their bills by other means.

In these austere times many people are starting to realise that open source costs less (because they are free) than the alternatives. No longer can open source be ignored.



Duncan Stonebridge. Back

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