The Open Source Concept
What's commonly known as the 'Open Source' movement began over 20
years ago, and was simply a formalization of the tradition of sharing information
that computer programmers had been doing since the 1960s. Software that is
released under an Open Source license is available freely to everyone. The
human-readable source-code behind the program is available, and this
accessibility allows people to fix bugs, add features, and even create completely
new software based on the existing code.
Open Source provides people with the ability to share ideas and work together
freely. The open sharing of ideas and results works well for physicists, doctors,
and researchers. It's ideal for software creation too!
In fact, Open Source software is being embraced by schools,
governments[1], corporations[2], and individuals all over
the world. The Internet itself has always been build on such open software, but
today more Open Source software is being created for 'the average
person'.
Along with cost, the Open Source model has a number of other advantages over
commercial software:
-
Extensibility
Authors of Open Source software are often amazed at the kinds of uses other
people come up with for their work. Apple took an Open Source web browser and
replaced Microsoft's Internet Explorer with it in their Mac OS X. IBM took
the Linux operating system and made it run in a wrist-watch. When programmers
get an 'itch,' they can easily 'scratch' it, without paying
licensing fees or worrying about asking for permission.
-
Security
Because the source is available for peer review, bugs and errors are found
more easily. Open Source software has a very good track record for repairing
problems quickly. (Even if the original creator of the software is unable or
uninterested in fixing it, others are free to do so -- to the benefit of all of
the users.)
-
Interoperability
Countless Open Source programs are available for Windows, Mac, Unix, Linux,
and other operating systems you've probably never heard of! They run on all
sorts of hardware, from the ubiquitous Intel-compatible PCs to hand-held PDAs.
And nobody likes software that won't work with other software; the Open
Source movement is also about open file formats, which can be used anywhere
without paying royalties or dealing with patents.
-
Control
Open Source software can't be controlled by a single company. You are not
at the mercy of a single vendor. There is no forced upgrading, and no
pay-per-user licensing policy. You are freed from the obligation of tracking
license certificates, and freed from the risk of audits for improperly licensed
software. Open Source provides true free-market products -- an alternative to
monopoly.
The software on this disk is all Open Source software. It is not shareware: you
do not have any legal obligation, moral or of any other kind. It is completely
free. We simply want anyone to be able to freely use this software: you can even
copy it for other people who are likely to be interested.
Footnotes:
[1] England, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, India, Brazil, Israel, the
state of Massachusetts, and the city of Largo, Florida, to name a few.
[2] IBM, Oracle, HP, Sharp, DreamWorks, Intel, AMD, Apple, Amazon, and
Google all use the Linux Operating System, for example.
