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Benefits of Open Source SoftwareIn the world of software development, most players are in one of two camps. They either use a proprietary platform like Microsoft's, or they work with open-source technologies. Members of each group tend to trash talk the other, saying things like "open-source code doesn't have the foundation to be used for a commercial software product" or "Ask Microsoft for the time, and they give you the tools to build a watch." While developers at Erudite Systems come from both backgrounds, our product, Web Cliento, is built with open source technology. The most obvious benefit that open-source development offers is cost effectiveness. The start-up costs are minimal, since compilers and IDEs are often freely available (as opposed to, say, a few thousand dollars for the "developer studio"). Plus, most open-source software development platforms are very distribution-friendly; you can use them to make a sellable product without having to pay exhorbitant royalties. Another reason to consider open source technologies is their flexibility. You can use PHP or CGI for something as simple as a feedback form, to something as complex as a web based billing system. What's more, open source platforms have high interoperability - a combination of PHP/Perl/MySQL, for example, often yields a very elegant software product. While some limitations exist, a skilled software developer in an open source environment can do great things. Look at what Google has done in the field of web indexing and search algorithms using technologies including Linux, MySQL, Python, and others. This one is going to spark some debate, but I'll say it anyway - we think that open source offers speed and efficiency that you can't find in a proprietary technology. Open source languages and databases are constantly evolving, but programs that use that technology are as lean and hungry as their developers make them. The no-overhead nature of open source development platforms allows you to only use libraries and modules that your application needs. In our experience, a low-level, highly-configurable technology will outperform a pre-packaged (proprietary) one every time. The critical benefit offered by open-source software development, however, is the idea of shared technology. No matter what piece of functionality your software application needs next, odds are that someone has already written a module for it and posted that module on the web. Open source developers are the paladins of sharing technology - a principle you won't hear much about in Redmond. Not only does the sharing of open-source achievements save in development, but it allows programmers to innovate instead of duplicate. That is why we feel that the world of open source is the only place to be. |
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Copyright 2006 by Erudite Systems, Inc. |
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