Is Open Source Software A Good Choice? Know Why
Open source software is very crucial for any business organization be it inventory, personal productivity applications or any telecommunication systems. It has often proved advantageous to people who are closely related to the software industry or web application development. As a software developer, I have worked on numerous open source based projects and I have observed that business owners prefer to choose it for its cost benefits and loads of other good features. Statistics and reports reveal that 75% organizations run on it and believe that it helps to create secured, high quality and easily integrated software at a fast pace and low cost.
There are many more benefits of open source software and here I will discuss some important advantages with you:
Huge range of choice: Since no one company owns the software, it is easily available to all. Multiple vendors maintain the software reducing the barriers of easy access and exit. Business owners as well as developers can easily choose their vendor according to the benefits. Wide range of platforms is available in the market and this increases the choice before the developers. It also gives more freedom to choose from.
Stability: Commercial software always has a cost attached to them and any updates or release of the new version that offers better functionality and updated interface is usually expensive. But this is not so with open source platforms. The changes are usually slow and interchange formats are particularly stable. Since developers often have access to the source code, they have more options to support themselves where necessary.
Auditability: This is another advantage of any software where the source code is published. Commercial software often forces the users to trust the vendor when it comes to qualities like security, adherence to flexibility for future changes. But this is not so with open source software, as the code can be easily accessed and inspected to check whether they meet the expectations or not.
Reliability: Open source development is often considered more reliable as they have fewer or no bugs compared to commercial products. If in any case there are bugs found, it can be quickly resolved as the platform is supported by huge communities. Experts try to solve the issues and the fix is included in the next software update.
Security: Open source allows the developers to closely examine the software for any security flaws. Since it is reviewed by various experts, the source code improves security through the elimination of defects and facilitates in-depth scrutiny and audits by government customers. Developers, in particular can benefit from belonging to the huge community that can help them to gain valuable experience.
Thus to conclude, I can suggest that it is always a good option to select from the open source platforms according to your needs.