Open Source Software

Open Source Software

Through the years, technology has allowed many aspects of our lives to be enhanced and our standard of living increased. The creation of the computer, cell phone, internet and interactive software have caused the world to become more globalized and for information to become more accessible to the general public. As with any type of evolution, the standards of all technologies have been raised to accommodate our new needs for information and data processing. Open source software (OSS) is simply one of these evolutions.

Through researching OSS, there are many pros and cons; many people and businesses who think it is the best form of software, and there are others who completely disagree with all that open source software has to offer. This paper discusses these pros and cons, positives and negatives if you will, of the social implications of OSS. Open source software is a type of software that can be altered under peer review and is transparent in its process. The following is a list of OSS and a list of proprietary software.

Open Source Software

Wikipedia

Mozilla Firefox

Sun Microsystems

OpenOffice.org

Proprietary Software

Microsoft Windows

QuickBooks

ACT!

Absolute Banner Manager

In order to be considered open source, there must be certain criteria met. These criteria include the following:

o Free Redistribution

o Inclusion of the Source Code

o Derived Works

o Integrity of the Author's Source Code

o No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups

o No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor

o Distribution of License

o License Must Not be Specific to a Product

o License Must Not Contaminate Other Software

The first of the many issues of OSS include cost. This topic is one that the activists use to promote OSS, and there isn't much in the way of argument in the fact that OSS is cheaper; mainly because it doesn't have to be free, but most programs are . Although most of this software is free, some users prefer to pay an initial cost so they can take advantage of the service or other elements that might create a value in the user's mind. A huge advocate of OSS is the educational system. Their costs could be lowered tremendously if software was free to download - especially at a mass rate. People who are anti-open source fear there is not a huge compatibility with software and computer brands such as Linux. This would cause a person to have to purchase certain computers or software so there is compatibility between systems . In this sense there is an argument for the higher long-term costs of OSS.

Below is a diagram showing an example of cost from a proponent's point-of-view and a proprietary software user's point-of-view. The proponent believes the price of the software is lower compared to proprietary software and the other costs associated with it are lower as well. It is not arguable that the initial cost of OSS is lower; however the graph on the right shows that, according to the opponent of OSS, the other costs are higher than they would be if a person used proprietary software.

The next issue that arises when discussing open source software is the topic of OSS being network friendly. Advocates claim OSS is quite networkable and according to NETC.org, more than half the World Wide Web runs on Apache, which is an open source solution . The argument for those against OSS brings us back to the cost argument, that it is not compatible with all other networks and therefore is more expensive to operate.

Along with low-cost and being network friendly, OSS provides the opportunity to customize software to peoples' needs. Proprietary software is designed for a specific intent and is not customizable to a person's needs . Thus, people who are pro-OSS argue this type of software is worth its weight in gold, as it can be used to fit a very specific personal or business niche without the extremely high cost of the same type of highly specialized proprietary software.

In an article by Walt Scacchi, there is another issue introduced which consists of government use of open source software. According to Scacchi, "Open government seeks to open information for public sharing, discussion, review, ongoing development and refinement, and unrestricted reproduction