'Open Source Vs Proprietary Software (Part 1)'

Open Source Vs Proprietary Software (Part 1)

By Blog Stories at 05/17/2008 14:51

To get more ideas of what to talk about in this blog, I decided to search the Web for significant office news, concepts, and events. I typed in on the search bar 'Office News', thinking that this would show what I was looking for. I was mildly surprised to find out that most of the results are websites talking about Microsoft Office. That gave me an idea of what to talk about--computer software.

I believe that this is an important consideration for anybody who will be just opening an office or modernizing the computer network. It's the big software question. Shall you go for open source technology, or stick with the traditional proprietary software?

We could go on and on, debating about which is better. Many people will still stick with 'closed source' software, while an increasing number of people opt to go for open source. What shall you choose for your office's computer network? I will just give you some advantages and disadvantages of each type, as I see it.

In this particular blog post, I will talk about the merits of open source.

• Open source, in general, may be downloaded free from those that offer it, though there are some that charge a fee. This is in contrast to the amount you have to exorbitant fees you have to pay for proprietary software. Instead of paying these fees, you will now have some extra cash to buy other important items like printers.
• You may have the source code of open source software (OSS) edited to fit your requirements. Obviously, you are not allowed to edit the source codes of the products coming from the other side.
• Programs are free for distribution. This means that you can install them to as much computers as you want without worrying about additional costs.
• However, there is barely any technical support for open source software--especially if you have it edited. It's either you find the bugs yourself or hire somebody to do it for you.
• If you are just updating your system and you already have licensed software, transition will be very tedious.
• Closed-software is older. Hence, majority of the market is using it (except for some sectors like web servers). Compatibility may be an issue you should consider.