Spring Break
Freedom from the system
Open source software is a free and sometimes more efficient alternative to Microsoft.
By: Romy Misra
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: Opinion
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Firefox, a high quality product, was not developed with the financial backing of a giant software company. It is distributed freely and can be modified by anyone who wants to improve it or tailor it to meet his or her requirements.
Enter the world of open source software, which encourages continual software innovation by anyone.
Software is meant to be dynamic and fluid. If there is a bug or something does not function according to my needs, I want it changed immediately, not when a company releases its next version. Software is best when it develops intuitively to suit the user's needs, which means it has to evolve continuously. Releasing new versions is not sufficient or timely.
When using open source software instead of Excel 2003, any function that could not be found or that worked inadequately could be changed immediately instead of remaining broken until the release of Excel 2007.
Open source software can be changed by anyone - according to a set of standards - to suit one's requirements. This is possible because the source code of the software is freely available to be improved, changed and distributed. With software, the best feedback is obtained from the users who use it most. Empowering them to modify it according to needs leads to improvements in the product.
That does not mean that what is developed is always good. Some products are great - Firefox, Linux Apache server, PhP, MySQL - and some disappear.
Microsoft has had a monopoly in the software market, but open source software challenges it. Firefox threatens Internet Explorer and sets higher standards in a transparent, challenging and fair manner. Linux is being adopted by corporations such as Amazon and HP because of cost-effectiveness and flexibility. It is compatible with all file formats, comes with a choice of different distributions, has security against all viruses and can be improved when required. This non-corporate juggernaut is penetrating the impervious Windows OS market. It is difficult to swallow, but true.
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