Source for the ‘Open’ minded

I have been a big fan of  Open Source Projects throughout my years of being interested in computers.  Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with the term Open Source, there are two competing main entities in the computer programming world.

• Closed Source- some examples are: Internet explorer, Microsoft Office suite, Adobe Acrobat, All Microsoft and Macintosh Operating Systems.

Vs.

• Open Source- some examples are: Mozilla FireFox, Open Office suite, All Unix and Linux Operating Systems.

*Note* Source Basically refers to the code running in behind the scenes. These Files can be hard to read and understand.

Closed Source means you can’t make changes to the code to give it the features you want and you usually have to pay for this kind software.  Having trouble understanding? Picture it like this; Closed Source is like a company recipe for Italian Bread sticks. They would never give you their recipe to be able to make your own Bread sticks, let alone your own style of Bread sticks, or make some kind of profit off of their bread sticks. Though their bread sticks are really good and filling, is there more you can do with this recipe?

This brings us to Open Source.  It is code that is ’open’ for editing the code (though many don’t have the ability to edit the code).  Open Source is also free for all to obtain.  Mainly communities and small groups of people Collaborate to meet an end goal (Like Ubuntu Linux).  Where is the money in this you might ask? There isn’t a whole lot. The majority of Open Source programmers either ask for donations or write programs for the ‘bragging right’ one might say (I would be pretty proud of myself if I could write make a Program that thousands of people use every day).

Some Positives and Negatives on both

• Closed Source
  • +Geared for most people
  • + or – Quality can Vary (i.e. Vista, Windows ME)***
  • +Technical Support by companies who usually care about the customers experience and help users work through their problem.
  • -Can Cost a lot of money depending on the software. Especially when getting new versions as technology expands
  • +Can have some pretty advanced features
• Open Source
  • -Not really geared for everybody**
  • + or – Quality can vary****
  • -Technical support isn’t available***
  • +Free to download and use
  • +Can have some pretty advanced features

Resources for Open Source Software

The most legitimate gateway site for Open Source Software is Sourceforge.net

Some Great Open Source Software is:

• Mozilla Firefox -Internet Browser (like Internet Explorer)
• Open Office- Office Software(like Microsoft Office)
• XMind- Brain-Storming Software/Mind-Mapping Software
• Ubuntu- Operating System(such as Microsoft XP, Mac OSX)

**Some programs use technical wording, and confusing menus, thus worsens the user experience

***Google and Forums is your best friend

****Quality usually is in relation to how popular it is