Previously, people used to rely on the free software community but it was later changed to open source software as a means of elaborating what their functions. The open source software became associated with different philosophies, values, criteria and approaches for which the licenses were acceptable. Currently, the open source movement and the free software movement work on different platforms with different goals and views despite the fact that one can work on both platforms (Kailash, 12). The major difference between open source and free source software is the way of looking at the world and their values. Many software users believe that free software tends to be a social movement while open source software tends to be a development strategy. The work will discuss the idea and philosophy of openness in software and creative commons. It will mainly focus on the comparison between the packaged and open source software and explain how open source development proposes new business models of software production and distribution.
The major open source software current under use include: Artistic License 2.0, Berkeley database license, modified BSD license, Boost software license, CeCILL, creative commons Zero, Cyptix general license, educational community license, GNU general public License v3, Intel Open source license, ISC license and Mozilla public license. The packaged software normally fit into different huge of categories. The software can be one size package that can be installed in a desktop with a lot of ease. An example of packaged software might be the Microsoft word (Krishnamurthy,9). It is configurable software that can be rolled across the organizations with ease, can be configured according to an individual’s needs. It is costless and might be supported by the vendor organizations. In contrast, the open source software is normally marketed, developed and distributed to the community. Unlike the application software which the user cannot manage to access the source code, in open source software, the source code can easily be viewed, download and modified by a computer technical expertise. In open source software the community is the key in understanding how the source code of the software is created, organized and distributed.
The main feature which makes both open source and application software to be similar is based on their: hardware cost, feature set, implementation complexity, and training and support expenses. Both application and open software usually provide accessible ways of assisting the users to tap into the data and products of the organization in an extended and appropriate ways (Christine, 17). In order to determine the strength of the open source software one must put into consideration the size of the community under use of the software, how frequently it is put to use, how advanced is the community and whether the community support it use. The advantages of an organization choosing the use of application software is because of its: mature ease of use, accountability, documentation and ease of getting started.
In the modern times, there has been great development as far as the Open Source Software is related. The open source software has transformed the previous perception of the software to new fundamental business model. The open source software has become an interest for the modern economies and industries. The software is considered as the producer of the high quality services in relation to the free and the proprietary development software (Jane, 11). Most computer users prefer open source software in comparison to the free and proprietary software programs because open source software consists of both object code and source code. The source code is normally written in the computer programming language which means they can only be understood and read by trained computer programming personnel. In order to appropriately use the source code in a computer, it has to be changed into object code. Hence, access into the open source software is a fundamental aspect while drafting the software licenses. Based on this argument, the accessibility between the source codes is the actual difference between proprietary software and the open source software.
By the fact that open source software usually make the source code to be available freely, many people in the world can manage to work on the product. The establishment of the open source software has resulted into n open source development which proposes new business models of software production and distribution. The models have been sustainable despite the fact that open source software is free of charge because it has lead to the famous operating system which has emerged plausible software in the business world. The open source software is normally considered to be a cooperative strategy towards product development and a technological model. Basically, many business organizations around the globe are believed to be formed around the principles and foundations of the open source software platforms. From the consumers’ perspectives, open source software ad products are considered to be attractive based on their comparable performance and reduced costs (Kailash, 24). It us unbelievable that even the government departments across the globe have started to adopted open source software in their efforts to reduce their expenditure. The producers of the open source software and products have a diverse shared passion for the products. The General Public License under GNU is the most famous license while LINUX is the famous software being distributed through it.
In my opinion, the adaptation of the open source software is a powerful way of determining how it determines the impact of construction of the business models. Despite the fact that open source software is a free of charge business model it remain sustainable because the organizations and individuals may be in position to use it with ease, modified and rectified according to the organizations’ needs and desires. Nevertheless, the needs of the community, costs and desires might demand the integration and coexistence of both proprietary and open source software.
Work cited
Krishnamurthy, L. An Analysis of Open Source Business Models.2014. Oxford University press.
Christine, J. Comparison between Open Source and Commercial Software. 2010. New York Publishers.
Jane, H. Why “Free Software” is better than “Open Source.” 2013. Retrieved from: https://journal.media-culture.org.au/0406/02_Coleman-Hill.php
