Open Source services aren’t the newest innovations in the Information Technology space. However, since its commercialization in the 70s, Open Source has been on the receiving end of erroneous media coverage. For instance, a section of media information concerning the technology paints it as an overly simplistic or superficial service.
If you’re considering developing your knowledge and skill in the software development space, it’s easy to see how far-reaching these myths can be. Whether you’re a pro or a random non-tech person seeking more clarity on this little-known technology, this guide can help you better appreciate software technology.
Myth 1: Open Source Is the Same as Free Software
You couldn’t arbitrarily replace both terms in a statement and mean the same thing. Freely available commercial software is not regarded as open source unless it has an open-source license. If someone gave out the software without charge, then the beneficiary can only use it for their purposes.
GitHub, one of the largest online repertoires of open-source projects, has tons of publicly available projects that don’t hold an open-source license. That means they are not open source projects, though public. Consequently, commercial software firms don’t have the right to use, modify, or redistribute them.
Generally, where there is no open-source license, the default copyright laws apply to the involved software. For instance, the author retains all rights to the program’s source code. Also, no one else may reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from it – regardless of its public accessibility.
Myth 2: Open Source Is All About Cutting Costs
Open source is free of any financial cost – and that can bring significant relief to any firm. But cost isn’t always the reason, why organizations choose open source. All software developers want better quality and productivity for their products. With open source, teams can improve their productivity – and potentially their overall output quality – since they don’t need to waste time building from scratch.
Moreover, many open-source components are used by many developers globally. That way, many more skilled hands are working together to spot and quickly fix security and quality code issues in the code. As a result, many consider open source safer than proprietary codes as the community behind an open-source community expands.
Myth 3: Open Source Lacks Any Patents or Restrictions
Software projects enjoy the protection of patents and copyrights. While copyrights protect a code’s unique expressions, patents protect its innovative and renewed functionalities. Simply put, programmers patent functions and copyright codes.
Meanwhile, many consider patents more valuable than copyrights because they protect a code’s implementation, regardless of how the code is written or what languages are in use. So, while open-source licenses grant users the chance to access codes with relaxed or non-existent restrictions, they often withhold patents from users.
So, if you’re considering patenting a code’s functionality, it helps to ensure you’re working with the right license that allows you to do so. Though widely accessible, most permissive open-source licenses are more restrictive than many assume.
Myth 4: Amateurs Develop Open Source
This myth might be traced to open source’s public accessibility to various developers globally. Most people erroneously think that the average open-source code developer is a student developer who only codes as a pastime. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The last twenty years have seen open-source development become a key to driving innovation. Even firms like Microsoft, which once considered open-source programs a threat, have now opened their doors to various open-source initiatives.
Myth 5: Open Source Has Poorer Security than Proprietary Software
In practice, source products can be significantly safer than commercial software. With hundreds of skilled software programmers monitoring, scrutinizing, and improving their security or quality features. That way, security glitches in open source are fixed faster, once spotted.
Conclusion
Open Source software has provided firms with one of the most helpful innovations over the last few decades. With increasing knowledge and appreciation about the niche, we can expect even more technological strides to come from them in the future.
