OPEN SOURCE TECHNOLOGIES

Open source is a development methodology; free software is a social movement. Open source software (OSS) is computer software that is available in source code form i.e. the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a free software/software libre license that permits users to download, study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software as long as license requirements are observed. It highlights that the source code is viewable to all; proponents of the term usually emphasize the quality of the software and how this is caused by the development models which are possible and popular.

The word "free" thats always associated with open source is used to mean freedom to distribute (or "free as in free speech") and not freedom from cost (or "free as in free beer").

While the term "open source" applied originally only to the source code of software, it is now being applied to many other areas such as Open source ecology,i.e "a movement to decentralize technologies so that any human can use them". The principles of open source have been adapted for many forms of user generated content and technology, including open source hardware.

This “culture” or ideology takes the view that the principles apply more generally to facilitate concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, in contrast with more centralized models of development such as those typically used in commercial companies.

In short i am saying that, "It’s like buying a car with a hood that you can open, as opposed to the traditional model in the software industry where the hood is locked shut. If you can open the hood it means you can fix your car, but it also means you have access to 10,000 car repair shops . . . ".

General Advantages (Top Four):

1.) Lower cost - A report by the Standish Group states that adoption of open-source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers, it has lead to near zero vulnerability to viruses eliminating need for virus checking, data loss and downtime. e.g Android smart phones - the cheapest smart phones in the world! Android OS(Operating System) is an Open Source Software!

2.) Secure - since any person can view, edit, and change code, but closed source software and some research suggests that individuals that aren't paid to scrub code have no incentive to do the boring, monotonous work.

3.) No vendor 'lock-in' - A user of a product is said to be locked-in to a particular brand if the direct and indirect costs of switching to another brand are prohibitive. i.e due to the cost of training workers to use another system/due to program or file incompatibilities that would result if the user migrates to another system.

4.) Better quality - research indicates that the open-source software such as Linux has a lower percentage of bugs than some commercial software.

Benefits Of Open Source In Education:

1.) It provides basic software platforms and tools for students and teachers/lecturers/tutors. e.g moodle tool i.e e-learning platform

2.) It provides free-of-charge software for students and even their parents.

3.) It exposes the inner workings of software code to IT and computing students facilitating apprenticeship in computing.

4.) It supplies tools for learning specific academic subjects that are not themselves computing related.eg moodle tool i.e e-learning platform

5.) Academic institutions can provide open courseware for distance learning education and open textbooks available free of charge.

6.) Increasingly, open source is able to provide the underlying organizational tools needed to support academic administration, like student registration and library management systems among others.

7.) e.t.c

Examples Of Widely Used Open Source Products:

SOFTWARE:

1.) Apache HTTP Server - Web server

2.) osCommerce - The e-commerce platform.

3.) Mozilla Firefox web browser- The internet browser.

4.) GNU/Linux OS - an open source Unix-like operating system

5.) Android - an operating system for mobile devices and a derivative of GNU/Linux OS.

6.) Java Programming language & PHP Web Scripting language

7.) Multimedia content development software – brasero, audacity, GIMP, cinelerra, e.t.c

8.) Content Management Systems(CMS) - Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress, e.t.c

9.) Databases - MySQL,postgreSQL

10.) Project Management Application - dotProject

HARDWARE:

1.)Asterisk (PBX)- a voice over IP (VOIP) applications.

Problems: (Greatest)

1.) The luck of wide acceptance of open-source software relates to the lack of technical and general support.

Current Society Usage & Applications:

1.) In 2009, the US White House switched its CMS system from a proprietary system to Drupal i.e an open source CMS. www.whitehouse.gov

2.)Majority of Kenyan Government Websites are running on CMS -Joomla! www.meac.go.ke

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