You might have paid for software like Microsoft Office and Photoshop and one fine day you come across a software that has almost the same functionalities as the software that you are using but it’s FREE!!! and you scratch your head for a while thinking why wasn’t I aware of the software.It’s because software like Microsoft Office,Photoshop or anything that you pay for are commercial software and big companies make sure that these kind of products are well advertised and with high usability.
So when you realize that open source software are free, you might as well think to use them. After all,why should you spend a hefty amount on the macOS operating system when you can do your work in Ubuntu? Why should you spend money on Microsoft Office when you can enjoy almost the same functionalities with LibreOffice? because someone once said —
“Having loads of money doesn’t make you a better person..Spending it smart does”
— Ziad Abdeinour
But Tech life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.Bummer!! Everything has some benefits and some pitfalls.Before you start downloading the products that’ll save you some bucks, do your research and find out if the open source software is something that you can work with. You can make this decision by looking at the advantages and disadvantages that they offer.
Advantages of Open Source Software
It’s FREE!!
On the user end, open source software initiates user ingenuity in developing a custom fit solution to the arising business needs.Mostly, small and medium scale businesses employ and benefit more from open source software.Shops like Photo Studio or Internet cafes can use open source software and run their business with low investments on Tech.These open source software are created considering they work on multiple platforms.They’re usually offered for free and don’t require you to pay for any additional copy you download.
Passion for the things they do
Passion is what drives the craziest but heavier advancements in the world.Not all software developers care the about money.A lot of these tech geeks don’t care about the money that they make from their job, they strive to build a program that will make a difference in the world.Like Pied Piper.
P.S — It’s a reference to a T.V show “Silicon Valley”.
The technology is flexible
Open source pertains to a software that is developed with a basic source code meant for free distribution, and intended for public access and modification. The copyright holder grants users the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose.So small or medium scale business can modify existing open sources software or hire someone who can do it for them according to their business needs.
Disadvantages of Open Source Software
Lacks Usability Engineering
Open source communities have successfully developed a great deal of software although most computer users only use proprietary applications. The usability of open source software is often regarded as one reason for this limited distribution.This is not true for open source softwares like Mozilla Firefox,Ubuntu,Android etc.
Hacking Stuff
The OWASP Top 10 is a regularly-updated report outlining security concerns for web application security, focusing on the 10 most critical risks and one of them is “Using Components With Known Vulnerabilities”. Many web developers use components such as content management system and frameworks in their web applications and some of them are open source.As most of the source code is open to public some people use this privilege to exploit the product’s vulnerabilities and create bugs.E.g WordPress is an open source software that has many vulnerabilities.
That’s why I said Tech life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine.But the open source software built by big corporations are mostly engineered with keeping usability and security in mind.Moreover proprietary software do not guarantee that they wouldn’t incur problems or disrupt productivity.So it’s better to use open source software that are cheap,flexible and respect what the developers have passionately built.
I would like to cite what I read from How Google Works:
“Open-sourcing something says, in effect, that we are committed to growing a platform, an industry, and an ecosystem as a whole. It lets everyone see that the playing field is level, with no unfair advantages conferred upon any particular player. Removing this suspicion of unfair advantages helps growth”. (Schmidt & Rosenberg, 2014)
