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In this article:
- What is Open Source Software
- Features of Open Source Software
- The difference between Closed source, Open Software, Free software and Freeware
What is Open Source Software?
Open-source software is computer software whose source code is available under a copyright license such that its users can understand by reading it, change it, and improve the software itself. The license so given also allows the users to redistribute the software in a modified or unmodified form, as seen fit by the user.
The term "open source" was coined in 1998 at PALO Alto. This was the time when Netscape had announced that it will be realizing the code behind their internet browser, Netscape, to the general public under the name, Mozilla. Todd Anderson, Larry Augustin, John Hall, Sam Ockman, Christine Peterson and Eric S. Raymond were present at a session at PALO Alto where they brought to the notice people that how ‘free’ as a word was confusing. This led to the proposal for the term, 'open source' which has now taken the form of a movement. However, many still take the birth of the Internet and the World Wide Web as the start of the open source revolution.
Features of Open Source Software
The open source movement today uses a model for software development hat was originally laid down by Eric S. Raymond in 1997 in an essay caleed “The Cathedral and the Bazaar”. This model was called the Bazaar model. Later, Gregorio Robles added to this model. Today, open source software developed around the world follows the Bazaar model. The features of open source software have been explained below:
- Users as Co-Developer
A key feature of open source software is that its code is available to all for seeing and modifying. In such a scenario, the users are seen as being co-developers of the software. Users can hence submit additions to the software that extend its functionality as well as any bug reports and fixes they find. The advantage this provides is that the software evolves in a fast manner. Secondly, as more and more users come along, more and more testing environments are at hand for testing the reliability and usability of the software on various platforms and configurations. As Linus Torvalds, the person who wrote Linux has stated in his law, "Given enough eyeballs all bugs are shallow." This signifies that as many users see the code of software, all bugs will be identified and fixed.
- Frequent Integration
All open source software undergoes very frequent integration of the new coder submitted by users. This is done many times at a stretch and ensures that the version that is available for download remains as efficient and bug-free as possible.
- More than one versions
Another feature of open source software is that it has more than one version. Usually, there are more than two of them. Atleast one of these versions is stable. This stable version is one that has lesser features as compared to the others, but is completely bug-free. The other versions are unstable or buggy. These are also called development versions and have more features than the stable ones and also, more bugs. It is these versions that users usually modify and debug.
- High Modularization
Overall, the code of open source software is highly modular. This means that each function or feature is a separate entity in itself. This allows for parallel development. The users, instead of having to change the whole software and its structure, can concentrate on changing or improving a particular function or feature without compromising the working of the other parts of the software.
The difference between Closed source, Open Software, Free software and Freeware
Closed source software is the traditional way of building and distributing software which is widely used. Under this method, the main aim is to earn money through licensing of individual copies of the software and so also, from group licences. However, this approach does not provide any access to the source code of the software to the users.
Open source and free software tend to refer to the same genre of software that maybe modified and redistributed by the users as they see fit. There are very few cases where free software is not open source.
Freeware, a term often confused with free software, is not open-source. It is simply software that is available at no cost or price to the end user. The source code of such software is not available to the user.
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