Have you heard open-source software?
Open-source software (
OSS) is
computer software with its
source code made available and licensed with a
license in which the
copyright holder provides the rights to study, change and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose(Wikipedia). The first open source software I used is Firefox. Later, some other open-source software as Latex, Linux and Eclipse are becoming my daily tools. In this post, I'd like to talk with you about their cost and stability.
So far, all OSS that I know are free. Lets have a look at the advantage via an example. It is well known that Windows Operating System is expensive. Compare with it, Linux is completely free. Maybe the price of operating system is not a big deal for working people. However, it is a question that students are thinking about. In some developing Countries like China, students like buying the computers with Linux rather than Windows. One of the most important reasons is that the computers with Linux are much cheaper than those with Windows.
The key feature of the open-source software is open source codes. Some people believe that open-source software have better security than closed source software since millions of eyes looking at and maintaining the software. I don't think so. All software engineers can access the source codes and change them
including attackers. It is said that lots of funds are used to attack
the open-source software. And, simply making source code available does not guarantee review. Marcus Ranum--an expert on security system design and implementation--released his first firewar toolkit, at one point in time, there were over 2000 sites using his toolkit, but only 10 people give him any feedback or patches.(The example comes from Wikipedia)
In sum, you don't need spend lots of money to buy closed source software because of free open source software. However, you have to keep eyes on its' stability. There is no rose without a thorn.
Hi Li Miao,
ReplyDeleteThe title of this blog post is what really attracted me! People usually praise open source projects for being so, I guess you could say, "open!" People love free things, but they forget that even free things come at a cost. I really wish that you had cited a source for, " It is said that lots of funds are used to attack the open-source software." I would really like to know more about this! I never heard of open source projects being attacked by other projects. Overall I enjoyed this blog post! We have some of the same thoughts on open source software, but you have also opened my eyes to different points of view as well. 5/5!
Li,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Julian; the title of your blog is very catchy!
Your take on this theme is very different from the other blogs that I've read. Your blog is very smart in describing the insides and many hidden pros of Open Source.
You can add a website link for the Marcus Ranum toolkit to make it more accessible for the readers. Also, a few grammatical errors need to be worked on.
Other than that, Good job, and happy blogging!
- Tushar
Hi Miao,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I really enjoy your post.
This post has a pretty nice picture, which catch your reader at the first sight of your blog. Additionally, you have an interesting first paragraph and a simple and clear conclusion one in the end of your post. As you said, open source is free, and we don't need pay for the close sourse one. I can't agree any more. I believe open source will develop better and better in the future.
I am looking forward to see your blog next week.
Hi Li Miao,
ReplyDeleteThere are quite a few grammar and spelling errors scattered throughout your post. Debra has given us something called Criterion which is supposed to help people with their grammar and spelling. While I personally have not used it yet, I think it would be very helpful for you. I think you can find the link to Criterion in her Google Drive folder.
There are a lot of examples of open source but not free software. For example, many game engines. You are free to use it for non commercial use, but if you want to sell a game using it you have to pay a licensing fee.
Open source projects are not really able to be modified so easily by attackers. For most large and well known projects, you have to submit an change request and go through a tedious process to get your code approved. For example, Chrome is a large and well known open source project. Think of how hard it would be to get some malicious code into the next stable Chrome build.
Tim K
I cannot agree that all open source software products are unstable or insecure. Before choosing an open source alternative to a closed source commercial product one has to investigate whether the product popular, enjoys patronage of a large developer community, the community supportive of its user base in answering any question posted, etc. While the cost is a primary concern for students it is only a fraction of the total cost of ownership for corporations, even then a lot of companies use Linux in their production systems because of its technological superiority and its eco system.
ReplyDelete