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What is Open Source Software?

Nov 2009

Open source software is where the source code of an application is open to developers to change, develop, improve and fix. Development by anyone is positively encouraged by the creators. The software developers who support the open source concept believe that by allowing anyone who’s interested to modify the source code, the application will be more useful and error-free over the long term.

Whatever applications your business needs, whether it is a word processing solution, accounting software, customer relationship management software or website applications, desktop applications, office software, Internet applications, operating systems, multi-media software, security software or development tools, you’ll find it easy to find an open source version. Even Windows has an open source version. It’s called Linux and some would say it’s far better than Windows. In this article we are concentrating on web based open source software.

Numerous sites like SourceForge or Webi act as central repositories for open source applications, and are good places to look for new software.

Disadvantages of Open Source Software

It is important to remember that the quality of open source software may vary. There are some great open source applications out there, but due to their “openness” quality control and support can be lacking. Little quality control means one day you could find a fantastic handy mod to install which breaks your whole website, and unless there is a large community to ask for help, your on your own getting it fixed. You get no warranties and no guarantees of support simply because the software’s license encourages modification and customization, it is nearly impossible to support.

Advantages of Open Source Software

On the other hand allowing users access to the code to build their own modules, make changes and improvements is great for many reasons. It means you have a world of developers at your finger tips quite often for FREE. Instead of having to pay for new developments to your website, you simply search for a module to “plugin”. If the community is large enough, someone, somewhere will likely have asked for the same functionality that you want. You save time and money for you and your business.

Most open source tools are pretty easy to use once set up. Of course some tools are more user friendly than others, so take your time finding the best for your needs. It’s a good idea to look for software with a lot of users, as there will be a large community who can provide help and support.

You can see some examples of my favourite open source website tools here, so take a look and maybe have a try.