Open Source Software - Essay Example

First Last Dr. First Last 8 December 2006 Open Source Software “‘Free software’ is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ‘free’ as in ‘free speech’, not as in ‘free beer’” (Stallman 41). This is part of the official definition given by Free Software Foundation (FSF). FSF is at one end of the large spectrum covering various types of open source or free software that is available in the marketplace and developer community. At the other end of the spectrum are large commercial organizations like IBM, Sun etc. that claim to promote or accept the existence and importance of open source software. In order to fully understand what advantages and disadvantages that open source software may have and for whom, a brief look at its history is pertinent. “Open source” development has been around for a long time. This has ranged from sharing of code amongst company employees to sharing of code amongst larger programmer communities. This included development on the PDP-7, PDP-11 and UNIX, notably the FreeBSD version. Each attempt however was not sustained owing to various reasons that included discontinuation of hardware platforms or commercialization of products by supporting vendors. The first concerted effort was made in 1983 by Richard Stallman, a computer scientist, the founder of Free Software Foundation. The GNU (recursive acronym for GNU Not Unix) project was launched and a “manifesto” released. While many differed later on with the extreme philosophy of FSF, the Open Source Movement’s foundation is credited to Stallman. Open Source software turned a corner in 1991 with the release of Linux, a look alike of UNIX based on a kernel written by Linus Torvalds. According to Forbes magazine, “Linux now drives $15 billion in annual sales of hardware, software and services” (Lyons 104). By the simplest definition and accepted by most, open source software is a collection of programs that are available in source code form that the user can use, modify and improve. Beyond this simple definition, there are varying points of view on its licensing, price, packaging etc. (Davidson 1). There is even a difference of opinion on the nomenclature used for this kind of software development and licensing (Stallman 61). Free Software is the term put forward by Stallman, whereas Open Source software is used by several other groups such as Open Source Initiative. These differences stem from various reasons that each holds for providing the freedom to the user and development community (Raymond 82). For the purpose of this essay, the term Open Source is used to refer to all kinds of software products that make the source code available to the user or developer. Advantages of Open Software 1. Open source software provides a clear advantage of reducing upfront costs of implementation. Typically only distribution costs, if any, are charged from the customer. Subsequently maintenance or support costs are paid if needed. Open source proponents argue that this reduces the total cost of ownership as customers have to pay support costs for proprietary softwares anyway. 2. By its definition, the source code is modified and improved by an exponentially higher number of developers. This according to some “allows for the ability to expedite and increase the software enhancements at a potentially much greater rate than proprietary programs” (Walker 18) 3. Reliability is claimed as a cornerstone of open source development. This assertion is rooted in the principle of continuous improvement and inherent innovation in open source software. Many examples exist such as BIND, Apache and Sendmail to give credence to this claim (Blakeslee). 4. Open source offers better levels of service, an evidence of which is that, keeping this as a major criteria, venture capital firms are looking at providers that can give a good investment potential. Most proprietary software companies have grappled with the idea of generating sustained revenue through services once their product is sold. However, their business model traditionally dictates higher revenue generation through sales rather than services. On the contrary, any company that distributes open source software has to rely on services for its revenue. This being the main source of revenue, more emphasis is placed on excelling in this area. (Cusumano 25) Disadvantages of Open Source Software 1. There are several potential legal complications arising out of usage of open source software. A mistaken belief that it is “free” in all manners causes licensing infringements resulting in lawsuits (OBrien 1). In addition, different products may have different licensing requirements making the legal departments go through a difficult learning curve. 2. Many open source products are said to have poor usability making them difficult to use. This increases the training requirements of user organizations as well poor adaptation to the product. (Boye 38) 3. Companies making commercial software solving larger and integrated problems tend to have integrated products with a unified user interface. On the other hand, solving the same integrated problem may entail more than one open source software or components. As a result, “greater skill and time is necessary to learn and make open source software work with other open source software” (Burgess 306). 4. If the developers stop activity on a project, the users can be stuck with no bug fixes, support or future development. While such risks may exist for all kinds of software, with a perception of lesser commitment by open source software developers compared to commercial organizations, there is a higher risk in open source. (Axelsen 44) Success and Failures There was a lot of skepticism when the open source movement was taking shape. However, over a period of more than 20 years of spreading support, idealism (Stewart 291) and a huge installed base, there are several success stories. Linux, Apache, Mozilla Firefox and number of infrastructure utilities are examples. Open source is used heavily in mainstream market as well such as by Google. Quoting IDC, according to San Jose Mercury News, the open source software market will grow to nearly $ 17 billion by 2009 (Boudreau 1E). Usage in government and education is also on the rise (Thornburg 76). Another testament to its success is the recent announcement by Sun Microsystems to release the source of Java to public domain. There are, of course, hurdles in its way as well. For example, open source is still struggling in industries which are “sensitive to failure”. It is also finding difficulty in establishing itself in businesses with specific requirements (Raymond 174). Only time will decide the future but this aspect can be deemed a short-term failure. The diverse number of organizations, non-profit or profit, that assist this movement, is an example of both its success and its failure. Success because it has generated so much interest and that there are so many supporters. Failure because each has its own rules, licensing and priorities resulting in confusion for the user. However, with time, convergence and stability may take place for the greater good of the community. What the future holds Uretsky, while arguing that the open source movement is here to stay and cannot be ignored, mentions the comment by Pierre Levy, author of Collective Intelligence that increased knowledge will make us shift from the classical “I think” to the more pluralistic “we think” (Uretsky 82). As more successful models of collaborative computing and development are worked out, an infinitely large pool of expertise may be available to solve our computing problems. Till then, it seems that open software is a wonderful phenomenon as long as it is used with a bit of caution. Works Cited Stallman, Richard M. Free Software, Free Society. Boston. Free Software Foundation. 2002. Lyons, David. “Toppling Linux”. Forbes Magazine. 30 Oct 2006. 104-110. Davidson, Stephen J. and Gabriel Holloway. " Protecting Trade Secrets in an Open Source Environment". The Computer & Internet Lawyer. Jan 2006. 2. Raymond, Eric S. The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings On Linux and Open Source By an Accidental Revolutionary. Cambridge, Mass. OReilly and Associates, 1999. Walker, Phyllis L. “OPEN-SOURCE FREE SOFTWARE: Benefits, features, and Uses”. Contract Management Magazine. Oct 2006. 18-23. Blakeslee, Melise and Brian E. Ferguson. “The Truths and Myths of Open Source Software”. Mondaq Magazine. 31 May 2006. 6 December 2006. http://www.mondaq.com Cusumano, Michael A. “Reflections on Free and Open Software". Communications of the ACM 47.10 (2004): 25-27. OBrien, Kevin J. "In open source, an unexpected trap". International Herald Tribune. 10 Dec. 2005: 1. Boye, Janus and Tony Byrne. " Portals: Frustration & Promise". Econtent Magazine. Jul/Aug 2006. 38-43. Burgess, Stephen. Managing Information Technology in Small Business: Challenges and Solutions. Hershey, PA. Idea Group Publishing. 2002. Axelsen, Michael. “Open for business.”. Intheblack Magazine. May 2006. 44-45. Cusumano, Michael A.. " Reflections on Free and Open Software". Communications of the ACM 47.10 (2004): 25-27. Stewart, Katherine J. and Gosain, Sanjay. “The Impact Of Ideology On Effectiveness In Open Source Software Development Teams”. MIS Quarterly. 30.2 (2006): 291-314. Boudreau, John. " Open-source software enters mainstream". San Jose Mercury News. 8 Aug. 2005: 1E. Thornburg, David. “Free and Open Source Software.”. District Administration Magazine. Nov 2006. 76-77. Uretsky, Mike. “Open Software: Can you afford it, can you deny it ?”. Journal of Organizational Excellence. 20.4 (2001): 79-83. Read More