Advantages or Disadvantages of open source

1 Subject Name: Introduction to Computing Assignment : Advantages And Disadvantages Of Open Source Software.

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3  High quality software : Open source software is mostly high-quality software. When you use the open source software, the source code is available. Most open source software are well-designed. Open source software can also be efficiently used in coding. These reasons make open source software an ideal choice for organizations.  Integrated management : By using open source software, you can benefit from integrated management. Open source software uses technologies, such as, common information model (CIM) and web based enterprise management (WBEM). These high-end technologies enable you to integrate and combine server, application, service and workstation management. This integration would result in efficient administration.  Simple license management : When you use open source software, you would no longer need to worry about licenses. Open source software enables you to install it several times and also use it from any location. You will be free from monitoring, tracking or counting license compliance.  Survey offered respondents a choice of five advantages for open source: 1. Lower total cost of ownership. 2. Reduced dependence on software vendors. 3. Easier to customize. 4. Higher level of security. 5. Do not see a significant advantage. 6. The results of the survey are shown in the chart on the next page: 3

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6  There is no guarantee that development will happen :I t is not possible to know if a project will ever reach a usable stage, and even if it reaches it, it may die later if there is not enough interest. Of course, this is also a problem with proprietary software, but it is more evident in the case of open source. Especially when a project is started without strong backing from one or more companies, there is a significant initial gap, when the source base is still immature and the development base is still being built. If it is not possible to get funding or enough programmers cooperating at this stage, the project just ``dies'', or perhaps slowly fades out. Usually, when it reaches a self-sustaining level, the user and development base is such that it can proceed by itself, without other external incentives. This issue will be revisited later on, when business models are discussed in section.  There may be significant problems connected to intellectual property :This point is especially important, now that some countries are accepting software and algorithm patents. It is very difficult to know if some particular method to solve a software problem is patented, and so the community can be considered guilty of intellectual property infringement. Some open source packages are already addressing this issue with switches or patches that enable or disable patented code fragments according to the country where the code is used. In other cases, developers consider source code not as an executable device, but a mere description of how a device (the computer) executes, and therefore uphold the idea that source code is not by itself (in absence of an executable program) covered by patent law even in countries where software patents are accepted. However, this idea has still to be tested in courts, and many people do not believe in its viability. In any case, it still leaves problems for the users, who need the executable programs.  It is sometimes difficult to know that a project exist, and its current status : There is not much advertising for open source software, especially for those projects not directly backed by a company willing to invest resources in marketing campaigns. However, several aggregation points' for open source software do exist, although in many cases they are usable only by experts, and not by the general public. They are also in many cases very specific to some software category, such as scientific software or database systems. There are only a fewclearing houses' for open source software and projects, and in many cases they are not really up to date. However, some people see this fact as a market opportunity, and several companies with experience in Internet based information services are approaching open source software with added value services which maintain information useful for people or companies trying to locate or evaluate open source software of some given characteristics. 6