Free and Open Source Software
What is it and is it any good? That's what people ask when hearing about FOSS for the first time. There are FOSS versions of office software, graphics and video editing software, and even operating systems that run the whole computer. The term "Open Source" refers to the programmer's source code that was written as the basis for the finished program or software we might use. It's open in the sense that anyone can see it if they want. It's free in the sense that it is freely available, free as in speech and is usually downloadable from the Internet, although many thousands of FOSS programs are also free as in beer so no charge is levvied for your use of it.
Closed source or proprietary software on the other hand is written in secret and nobody apart from the developers really knows what's happening under the surface. The vendor then sells it to you at a price.
Which is better? The answer can often depend on what suits your needs. For instance, one person may have hundreds of saved files in a
published document format that can only be opened by his proprietary software, whereas someone just starting to make such documents can use
Scribus or even OpenOffice.org Drawing. Even so, many proprietary file types such as .xls .doc & .ppt can be opened by FOSS software
so pre-existing files do not preclude the use of open source software packages. FOSS software tends to be more secure and less vulnerable
to attack partly because other programmers can scrutinize the source code and may spot errors and weaknesses, and partly because the
developer's personal pride makes him do a good job before his code goes on display for the world to see. FOSS software distributed under the
GPL (GNU General Public License) is much less restrictive regarding what the end user is allowed to do with the software. You can legally
copy, distribute, and even edit the software to suit your needs. If changes are made then distributed, the GPL requires you to make your changed
source code freely available as well. "Free" also refers to how the end user feels when using this software. No need to worry if an
employee installed a copy of your FOSS software on his grandmother's computer at the weekend!
Here is an article about
an organization benefitting from FOSS. It was first posted early in 2008.
Here is another organization who saved by changing to Free and Open Source Software.
This article is from June 2009.
Davel Technology now uses Free and Open Source Software almost exclusively on all our computers. For us, it is a much better option than proprietary software. We can help you find FOSS packages to suit your particular business, and help you to start using them and save money.
Advantages of open source software:
- licensing costs often non-existent
- all staff using the same version of software
- you're encouraged to use the latest versions as they become available
- compliant with a better array of standards (useful in multi-national scenarios)
- help and assistance from the open source community
- security and stability usually better
- you can become involved in the development of software, perhaps suggesting improvements or reporting bugs directly to developers
Here in Britain, we've been used to proprietary software licensing and most of us assume that there's nothing else out there. However,
the reality is there's a world of choice that can fill our needs both technical and financial.
Before you go to purchase the next batch of licenses for the latest software with a fat roll of cash in your hand, why not ask us if there's a Free and Open Source Software equivalent available? We can even install a copy or two for you to test and use. Of course it will be a fully functional copy and not a crippled demo. With FOSS, you're free to do just that, and much more besides.