Author: Mavery Hesworth

Everything you must know about Open Source Software

Why Open Source?

What is open source software?

Open source software is software distributed under a license that allows its use, modification and redistribution. As its name implies, the main requirement for an application to be considered under this category is that the source code is available. This allows studying the operation of the program and making modifications in order to improve it and / or adapt it to a specific purpose.

Open source software has been developed for years, using different licenses. Each of them has particular characteristics, however, to be considered as open source licenses they must meet the following requirements:

  • Free redistribution of software must be allowed.
  • The source code must be available.
  • Modification of software and creation of derived programs should be allowed.
  • The integrity of the original program must be guaranteed. This can be done by requiring that the distribution of any modification be done separately, or that any modification or derived program be distributed with a different name or version.
  • No person or group of people should be discriminated against.
  • The use of the software for any purpose must be allowed.
  • The license must be distributed together with the software.
  • The license should apply equally to all who use the program.
  • The license must always be the same, regardless of whether the software is included within a specific distribution or package.The license should not apply restrictions on other programs.
  • The license must be technologically neutral.

Advantages of open source software

Using open source software brings multiple advantages for its users, be they people or companies. Some of these advantages are:

  • The availability of the source code makes it possible for users, programmers and companies to get involved in the development of applications. In this way, the error detection and correction process is carried out efficiently, as well as the implementation of new features.
  • It is possible to carry out modifications to the programs in order to adapt them to the specific needs of a company.
  • With open source software there is no money spent on purchasing licenses, but rather an investment in staff training.
  • Using open source software does not depend on a specific company for maintenance, but can hire anyone with the necessary skill and knowledge.

Open Source

Open Source or Open Source refers to the source code of the software that is openly accessible and that can be changed and distributed by anyone. The open source initiative stipulates ten requirements for open source software licenses.

The beginning

The source code of a software is made public: anyone can read it, develop the software itself and copy it. The software can be used or distributed by anyone for free. No additional license is required at any time. Open source software is therefore an alternative to commercial paid software.

Examples

Some well-known examples of open source software are LibreOffice and OpenOffice for document creation, the GIMP image processing program and Audacity, with which you can edit audio data. The Eclipse development environment and the Ubuntu operating system are also open source software. Other open source programs are OpenOffice and Bootstrap.

Benefits

A great advantage for users (individuals or companies) is that you do not have to pay license fees. You also don’t depend on a provider. There are many other benefits on the developer pages. Because the code is read by many independent developers, any abuse of the software would be immediately apparent. Any part of the software that contains malicious code will be quickly discovered, making open source software very safe.

Even small errors in the software can be corrected very quickly, as many independent programmers can point each other to errors and discuss problems together. Furthermore, users can tailor a program to their needs. You could simply extend the code and expand the software with your own function.

Disadvantages

Users cannot rely on the fact that open source software will develop (quickly), since projects have few financial resources. Support is another major drawback. Developers work on projects on a voluntary basis and therefore only in their spare time.

Therefore, there is no developer company that offers ongoing support, and people who can provide support rarely have the time to do so. One solution is Internet forums and companies that do not develop the software, but specialize in its support. They earn their money with professional support for free software.

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Quality

Not all open source software will be of the same quality. There are big differences and there is not an open source option available in all areas. However, many programs are already able to keep up with the competition and have integrated into the world of work. The Open Usability project strives to make open source software easier to use, and therefore increase its quality.

Open Source vs. Free software

“Open source” and “free software” are essentially the same. The term “free software” is older (1985) and comes from the Free Software Foundation. The Open Source Initiative launched the term “open source” in 1998 .The idea of ​​open access software is the same, only that the motivation behind it is different. In open source, it is the practical benefit derived from the joint development of software. The concept of free software is based on the ideology that sustains and benefit for users.

 

A MARVEL TO WITNESS: OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

How many times have you heard the phrase: “The future is now”, and surely you will agree that every time you have heard this phrase it really applies to the contexts you hear it from. Human beings still have a lot to learn from the world and the way it works. We have merely glanced into the vast world of technology, for the past ten years we have been witnesses to the very best and the worst from humanity, to the nuclear bomb, to organ 3D printing. It seems like it could not get better than this.

Our history begins with curious people, those who wondered and went far away with reasoning and reflexion, those who wanted more, more to ask, more answers, more for themselves and humanity, this same people curious enough to ask the correct questions, were not afraid to reach out, for books, people maybe send a letter or two to those with similar questions, they knew that part of the solution was to seek people with the same questions as themselves.

SAME BUT DIFFERENT; AN IDEA TRANSCENDS TIME & SPACE

It is even funny to think how many times the same discovery was made from people thousand miles apart, in a completely different context but who wondered about the same thing, sometimes even from different languages, yet they found a way to come up with similar findings. Devoted thinkers lacking resources and people who might connect with their way of thinking have come up with amazing, life changing findings.

The internet has allowed us to meet new people, to find answers to whatever question appears into our mind and to reminds us why we will always thrive as long as we stay connected, and as long as we remain curious about what surrounds us, as curious human being we can find answers to questions never asked before, our curiosity among our thumbs is what defines humanity.

Sharing knowledge might seem impossible for some, jealous of their findings pornkie.com and careful with their research, yet those who know that these findings are part of something bigger are not jealous to share, because some findings might be completed by someone else, not necessarily by the one who asked the question but someone with the same worry.

SHARING IS CARING: OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

Open source software might be the hidden answer to most of our perils, as a society and human beings, we are constantly seeking to get better, better health care, better gadgets, better care for our environment, we shouldn’t look that far away, nowadays the internet holds most of the answers to questions we weren’t even asking for, so it’s not big surprise that something as vast as the internet allows us to connect with people who might be questioning themselves.

Now everything seems like it doesn’t even need to have an author, with the internet you even can be a meme and never find out, just because you had your picture taken or maybe someone saw something funny in one of your Facebook publications… it makes us wonder about control and privacy yet this makes it so unbelievable, we can share, edit and transform works which were previously thought as granted, or owned by someone else.

Open source software is something like this, people might upload a code, an app and it can be used, edited or downloaded by anyone, this gives freedom to those interested on improving or making something out that app, or code. It is simple sharing… not expecting anything in return and expecting different yet relevant changes to the code or app. It also is a benefit for our society because someone might take a previously made app only to improve it and make it better than it already was.

“…it enables individuals, organizations, enterprises and innovators to collaborate to achieve common goals and results involving a minimum of structure and breaking other barriers.”

HumHub - The flexible Open Source Social Network Kit for Collaboration

A NEW HOPE, OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE IS HERE TO STAY!

No doubt we can achieve many things just by sharing information, making it accessible for everyone around us, trying to stay connected through thinking and wonder about the same things, even then we can find individuality but what’s more important is to stay focused on the right path, find solutions for the world’s hardest tasks and pains and maybe then we will be close to finding out about the meaning of our existence.

The open code software movement was born into a necessity, something that will bring us together and bring the brightest minds together only to find common solutions and findings which might change the course of our history, a complex thought missing minor links, could be completed by someone across the world, who might be thinking about the same problem.

There is pressure among coders who are seeking for improvements for their software, nowadays you don’t have to wait too much, there might be an answer to your problem at the end of the tunnel, so researchers and coders alike allow themselves to write and overwrite work that might be relevant to solve one or more issues regarding software.

PRIVACY IN SHARING IS CARING TIMES: OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

A few years ago no one would bat an eye on Google, not even on Facebook, once we went into these websites our security or our information and its safety were not part of our thinking process, the thing is that is curious when something new that “might” seem good is never questioned by anyone or by very few, take mercury for instance once thought as a science miracle, we were never really sure about its effects and consequences yet that didn’t stop people profiting from it, even adding it to home remedies.

It is widely known that Lincoln was on the verge of poisoning before he knew better, he was taking mercury pills which he thought might help with and this is not clear because some historians say two different things, he might have been using the blue pills, let’s not confuse them with those “blue pills” used on hd porn.

Lincoln thought he could treat his gastrointestinal problems with them or maybe he was using them to treat his “melancholy” which nowadays translates to clinical depression.

Either way we as humans think we might have it all figured it out, sometimes this tragically proves us wrong, either way we think that something as common will not harm us and if it did we should know it by then. We as species can be wrong, which is a huge blow to our egos and we might even feel crazy stupid about this, but sometimes we do not hold all the answers to our predicaments.

Going back to Facebook and Google: after the whole world knew that these powerful companies were using their data for profit we became cautious about our use of these platforms, many stopped using them, but you can not scape something as Facebook, which owns Instagram and Whatsapp… and where you upload your whole being, who you talk to, who do you like, how do you like it, why do you like, etc…

AN EASY TARGET: INNOVATORS USING OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE TO HELP OTHERS

What if I told you that as long as you keep talking and meeting people who are interested in the same subjects as you you might find enlightenment and maybe you will create something no one has ever seen or heard. This is possible, Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari were not that far off when they proposed the term: Rhizome: an “image of thought,” a theory which plays as a mode of knowledge and at the same time it can be a model for society itself.

This theory describes the use of multiple entries with no pre-established order and points in data interpretation and representation. We can even see examples of this in nature itself, you might think of this as something natural but once you delve into it, thinking about how it reflects humanity itself you might be in for wonder: take a bee and an orchid for example, their whole existence depends on mutualism: where they both take something from each other in order to survive, one uses it for nurturing and the other gives it but also gives something else, its pollen and this might go into another flower, and what do we have here? Pollination, so another flower can improve and exist and the bee can eat and exist as well.

This is the same as rhizome a unity of different concepts that form a multiplicity, a complex structure that might not necessarily reference a prior unity. We can even refer those adult videos everyone watches, in order for porn tube to have all those videos one might consider to upload them to their site, so the people can get views and monetize their own channel.

So one must think, that everything will go smooth with Open Source Software, both or multiple parts benefit from each other, one might be making the breakthrough from their life and the other might be improving this breakthrough which might result in something excellent, with a wide range to permeate, this might be the case but nowadays with something as fragile as data, we might not be so sure about the benefits these software might bring us.

Join forces to create useful software, build a good idea from scratch, test it, fail and then improve, share it to the world and upload it for the world and others to use, ideally others will help you make it better, improve where you failed, find errors where you thought there were none, this allows many enterprises to succeed, build an empire and cash in hundreds of dollars, after a good idea was improved by not one person but many who came together to build it.

Open Source Security Tools to Complete Your Software Development ...

OPEN CODE SOFTWARE: LIKE AN USED FORK.

There might be a lot of problems with Open Source Software, might be its code, might be something that’s yet to be discovered but the most important problem on OSS is also its most valued asset, its reusability. Reusable software might be a threat to many companies, and it not might be as clear as you think, this because reusable software might lead to repetition and its cons, the way its recreated over and over can lead to vulnerabilities.

This is of course a new threat a new problem that surged from it’s very own nature, from being shared from computer to computer, you might even say the code can be infected and infect many more people, this without people’s knowledge, it can be sneaky and people might not even notice it at first sight, once you find it, it might have already smeared the applications that previously used the component.

There even might led to security breach, malware can get into your computer, sometimes unnoticed sometimes might be as noticeable as when you open a new tab on your explore you get hit by tons of lesbian porn or any of the like, which might be a big scare for you and anyone who might be using the computer.

THERE’S STILL HOPE IN OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE, SHARED INNOVATION.

Stop and think about the world, the way none of us has answered the long age question of why we are here, it seems like there is no answer at all, some might even think about a superior force who made us to its image and who might somehow hold all the answers to whatever question we might ask, the other half of the world simply doesn’t even have the time to think about any of these things, of course there’s still that other part of the humanity who might think that this is absurd because we are here and it’s nothing we can do about it, call it an opportunity of thousand of chances.

And yet many of us, have wondered the same question. Why are we here and how did we end up discovering things that might not even have an explanation itself. One can only wonder about the answers of these questions.

Now if we think about chance we might discover that our mere existence is something of a lucky casualty, our curiosity and a little bit of our ego has allowed us to discover the wonders of this world, thousand years ago people were wondering the same things as we do now, it is amazing to think that our ancestor never got a chance to answer these questions, yet they lived and prevailed, making of life whatever their own limited reach could make them do.

We will never go back to that, nowadays humanity is adamant of answers, we are seeking outside, inside everywhere we go we wonder about everything, the way it was made, thought of and the many ways every little piece of this world can impact its society and maybe change the world a little bit, bits by bits but a change that surely is imminent.

TO WONDER: OUR OWN HUMANITY BEGS US TO INNOVATE

You might say that being alive equals to wonder, our ancestors did it, now we must keep wondering until there’s nothing left to answer, which might be insane to think of but, ten years ago no one would bet that an apple would be a synonym of innovation, and now even you have an apple in your pocket, maybe in your hand now… since it’s such a common object, cellphones were once considered evil or something that will never reach its full capacity, I still think about this and wonder…

What if Steve Jobs listened this, and never dared to dream bigger, to do bigger, would we come up with the same results? Maybe someone in China, or in Africa… most definitely someone in USA would have come up with a portable device capable of store our whole life, this we might never know.

It is funny to think about this, the odds of coming up with the same results, could we have made such big breakthroughs 10 years ago? And who would have been capable of doing this? I even wonder about how the movie Avatar was possible to make, and how this insane director waited and worked on the technology that made it all happen… I am sure it was not easy, to think about all this and go against the flow, at the end of the day a creator, an innovator even must do this, go against the flow, be called insane and have their closest people give up on them, innovation is a teaching tool it teaches you to fail, to prevail and to be sure of who you are.

THERE’S SO MUCH TO DO: OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

Open source software might bring new discoveries we never thought possible, this is our new hope, now it’s at arms reach, to wonder together and come up with solutions by joining along with people from all over the world, with our same interests and concerns who wonder about a brighter future and a polished present.

By taking a code or software and make it better, maybe work on it with the same intensity as if it was their own… these innovators will not stop until they can come up with a solution that involves coding, a solution provided by software and which will make everything easier, come up with unique answers and solutions.

Innovators and coders alike are in for an adventure which no one knows how will it end up but that’s what it makes it so exciting, to work with people all over the world, understand a code that might bring new discoveries or that might just be excellent for a game, we still bare hope on technology, we have done it all these years and we can not be more excited about its outcome.