Chapter 5 provides a brief description of open source software, but open source technology is a rapidly growing phenomenon. Many programmers and users are passionate about open source software and believe that all software programs (and source code) should be freely available. For this assignment, address the following items:

Compare and contrast the practicality for all software to be distributed in this manner.

Discuss the effects on commercial software and commercial developers if all software were to become open source.

Include your opinions on whether or not innovation would be enhanced or restricted if there was no financial incentive to create software.

 

Introduction

The terminology open source can be defined as resources that are made available publicly, and people can share and modify them. Open source is mostly related to software development and computer programs. The non-proprietary software way is the set of rules used today to explain what open source means. Non-proprietary product projects respect and embrace the laws that govern open exchange, meritocracy, rapid prototyping, collaborative participation, community-oriented development and transparency. Non-proprietary software is software available publicly, and its code can be modified, inspected, and shared. Source code is the hidden part that many computer users don't see and are not aware of its existence (Tozzi, 2017). Programmers can edit the source code of an application or a program and change how it works. When a source code is available, it will be possible for programmers to modify the programs to improve how they work or fix available errors.

Comparison and contrast of open source software

The distinction between non-proprietary software and closed source software is that closed software source code is only available to the team, individual or organization that developed it for modification. It is only legal for the creators of closed software to modify, alter, copy and inspect the source code of their software. Computer users are supposed to agree to the license to use the software and not make any changes in the software or misuse it. The license comes at the start of installing the software, stating what the author does not allow using the software for. On the other hand, the author makes the source code available to programmers to modify, enhance, and share in open source software. Non-proprietary software can be a learning platform for programmers as they can copy and see how other programmers wrote the source code.

As they do with closed programs or applications, computer users should acknowledge the conditions of a permit when they utilize non-proprietary software. However, the legitimate terms of non-proprietary licenses contrast significantly from those of closed software licenses. The licenses given by the software author affect the way the users see, study, use, share and modify the software. Non-proprietary licenses permit users to use the application they feel is beneficial to them without restrictions. The copyleft licenses suggest that if a programmer decides to modify software, he must also release the copy of the source code of the modified software or program. Some licenses of open source software suggest that the person who has decided to alter and share a given program should not change the licensing fee of that software. Open source software licenses support sharing and collaboration through design. 

The availability of open source software and non-proprietary reasoning benefits both non-programmers and programmers. Most developers built most internet programs using open source technologies such as the Apache Web server application and the Linux operating system. Any internet user up to date benefits from these open source technologies. In each moment of usage, computer users connect to the global network through non-proprietary technologies to share emails, view web pages, listen to music online, chat with friends, play video games using their phones, computers, laptops, and gaming consoles. Open source software connects the internet to their devices and carries operations remotely and comfortably (Nowak, 2021). The remote computer controlling the access of these resources to the remote users are located in physical places which are secrets to the users.

Many computer users rely on remote computers to do tasks that can be performed on the local computer. Still, because the resources are free to use and ready any time, they need them. They prefer fetching them from remote computers, which might be more potent than locally available computers. Some of the services available from remote computers include image processing programs, word document processors, email managers, and a long list of services that can be accessed online.

Activities such as image sharing, document sharing, watching videos, and listening to music change the essence of remote computing to cloud computing. It involves having databases where these data can be retrieved from and made available for these remote users. The atmosphere of accessing these files remotely is created by the global network that connects these devices. Day after day, clouding computing is becoming essential in computers, and many organizations are introducing cloud computing both to open source and closed software. Some of the cloud computing software well-known is Google Applications and Amazon cloud services, both appropriate software. The Nextcloud and ownCloud are some of the open source cloud computing applications. The platform for running cloud computing applications is provided by other software underneath and makes sure that these applications run efficiently without failure.

People prefer using open source software because of these reasons. Firstly, having control over the whole software is one of the most exciting features of open source software. They can alter the software's source code and remove the parts they think are not essential to them or harm their computers. The users who don't know how to later the source code also enjoy using open source applications because they decide how to use the applications without restrictions. Secondly, in training, many people yearn to become the best programmers and develop unique software than the one available. Open source software gives them the chance to learn how to program and become great programmers (Dhir, 2017). Thirdly, open source software is more secure than closed source software because someone can go through the code and know what happens in the background; with closed software, data from the user's computer may be stolen without the user's consent. Fourthly, inspiring the community to appreciate and develop more valuable programs.

Effects of open source software on commercial software

Open source software can be the backbone of commercial software because most have originated from open source software or have traces of them. The availability of open source software has brought about negative effects on commercial software because many people prefer using open source software. They have freedom on how to use them and can alter them to solve specific needs. Due to security issues, people choose to use open source software rather than closed source because they can go through the software and know the code's operations in the background. In commercial software, someone cannot even guess what is happening beyond what is happening in the user interface. Someone will prefer purchasing software that will give freedom in usage rather than restriction and subscriptions every time they want to use a different advanced feature in the application.

In terms of interest, people are losing interest in the use of commercial software, and the purchase rate has gone down drastically. Due to the flexibility of open source software, organizations and computer users will prefer getting open source software rather than commercial software which has restrictions on where to use it. Due to the open platform to add more enhancements to the open source software is has been easy for the application to go hand in hand with the new technologies. In the next generation of software development, people will prefer using open source software to ensure they are safe from increasing cyberattacks. Innovation will be enhanced with more open source software available as many people will be free to alter the source code and come up with something powerful than the original application.

Outline

Open source software

1. Introduction

• The terminology open source can be defined as resources that are made available publicly, and people can share and modify them.

2. Comparison and contrast of open source software

• The distinction between non-proprietary software and closed source software is that closed software source code is only available to the team, individual or organization that developed it for modification.

3. Effects of open source software on commercial software

• Open source software can be the backbone of commercial software because most have originated from open source software or have traces of them.