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Project: FreeOS  Opinions
Open Source is here to stay!
By Trevor Warren <trevor@freeos.com>
Posted: ( 2001-01-04 07:17:03 EST by )
The Open Source model of software development has churned out some truly
remarkable pieces of software and is a fantastic example of global
co-operation. The goal of the Open Source movement is to eventually
replace the monopoly over thought and software imposed by companies like
Microsoft and create a new order where freedom and flexibility is
available to everyone. What is it about, how does it work and more
importantly what can it do for you?
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul I am free,
Angels alone that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
-- Lovelace.
The Open Source model of software development has churned out some truly
remarkable pieces of software. There are no dearth of examples of
excellent pieces of Open Source software, right from Apache, which is one
of the most widely used web servers, to Sendmail, which is responsible for
transporting billions of email messages around the world, every day. These
are some of the most common and widely used Open Source software that have
found their way into the hearts of many System Administrators world-wide.
In a world dominated by Closed Source, let's take a look at the
significance of Open Source software and the role it plays. Open Source is one of those things that you either love or hate. The
proponents of Open Source are extremely committed people, for the simple
reason that if you know about Open Source, the way it works and if you
have ever benefited from it in one way or another, you will find yourself
obligated to do something in return to foster the growth of Open Source
and the community as a whole. Let's take the example of the various LUG's
(Linux Users Group) that operate via e-mail in the form of Mailing Lists
world-wide. The concept of the LUG is to bring about awareness on various
issues and provide a forum for discussion on various topics regarding Open
Source with Linux being the central theme. Apart from discussing issues
related to Open Source, quite often LUG members also help out people who
are stuck with a tricky problem on their Linux boxes. The mailing list
has people who are experienced in several fields and that makes the
concept of the LUG all the more interesting. It pools together the
resources of the community to help any Linux user requiring assistance. Most of the software that is Open Source is distributed under the GNU GPL
license. The GNU GPL license is designed to give the user unrestricted
access to the source code of the application and even the right to
distribute modified versions. The author of application cannot take the
power out of the hands of the end user to view/modify any part of the
original source code. This is one of the most significant aims of the GNU
GPL license. The entire license can be accessed at www.gnu.org. Most software that's available as Open Source code made a humble beginning
as a simple project to accomplish some task. Some may reach great heights
while some may not. As they say, "What counts in the Olympics is not
winning, but taking part". Many such sites like www.freshmeat.net and
www.sourceforge.com are at the forefront in promoting Open Source
applications and projects. So this brings us to the question: Why do people write stuff, invest such
a lot of their time, knowledge and money into developing a product and
then release it as Open Source? The driving force is the spirit of sharing
one's knowledge and working together to develop something really good for
others to use. There's no dearth of applications in Open Source. Be it scientific Beowulf
clusters, High availability solutions, parallel computing, distributed
computing, high end databases, clustering, firewalls, routing software,
GIS software etc. One of the astounding facts of Open source is that the
huge amount of peer review makes it possible for only the best to survive
and to make it to the top. Of course at the end of the day, it's up to you
as it's a matter of your exercising your choice. The developers of a particular Open Source product may be geographically
separated but what keeps them in touch is the revolutionary USP of the
Internet: E-Mail. Developers generally have a Mailing list through which
everyone is able to convey their message to the others. Most Open Source
projects have a home page where weekly/nightly/monthly builds (latest
addition of code to the project) are uploaded to the server and version
control is enforced via CVS. There are time schedules and deadlines for
every task. It is up to the developers to take out time from their hectic
schedules to do their share for the Open Source movement. Open Source is all about putting choice into the hands of the consumers,
but they can benefit only if they do their homework well before exercising
their right to choose. This is in complete contradiction to the philosophy
of the Closed Source model where your solution provider develops some
application for you and decides most of the configurations for you.
I've been and continue to be part of a company that hopes to change the
way we transact business in our daily life. We hope to spread the concept
of Open Source out here in India and are also doing a lot to foster its
growth in participation with our local LUGs. There's a lot of work to be
done, a large audience to be catered to and a message to be delivered, all
because Open Source has given us something that we can never forget. We
are obliged to do our best to give something to it in return, something
within our scope of activity. It's said, only can they set men free.........
But I say that's there is no need of that,
As Free men set themselves free.
-- James Openheim
OpenSource.org
GNU's Not Unix!
GLUE: Groups of Linux Users Everywhere
Other articles by Trevor Warren
Current Rating: [ 8.4 / 10 ]
Number of Times Rated: [ 5 ]
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