Open Source Versus Closed Source Software Essay

Open Source Versus Closed Source Software - Essay Example Currently, there are a huge number of categories of the open source software that include but not limited to the Application Software, Operating Systems, Programming Languages and Server Software. Under each category there are many items / applications, for example, the application software include: Mozilla Firefox – a web browser, OpenOffice – an office suit, Eclipse – an integrated development environment, 7-zip – a file archiver or compressor etc. The operating systems include: the Linux, Android – a mobile OS, FreeBSD etc. The open source computer programming languages include: PHP – a scripting language used to develop websites, Perl, Ruby etc. The open source server software include: Apache – a web server, Joomla – a web content management system etc. Closed Source Software Closed source software also known as proprietary software is computer software which is only available without source code and licensed under limited l egal right as per provided by the copyright owner. The buyer of the propriety software is permitted to use the software having restrictions on modifications, redistribution, update / upgrade or reverse engineering and it is typically owned by a single organization. The vendors usually provide an executable or compiled form of the software application’s source code so that only the central processing unit of the computer can understand the machine language that cannot be converted into the source code. The propriety software is not allowed to redistribute or sharing the software with others, in case anybody else wanted to use the proprietary software it is required to purchase another unique license of the software. In other words, the proprietary software is the property of the owner / developer / publisher that cannot be copied or modified, with an appropriate price and need to comply the license agreement (National Taiwan University, 1991). Like the open source software, th e proprietary software has much more categories of the software include: Operating System, Computer Programming Languages, software applications, public domain software, private software etc. There are several examples including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Programming languages – ASP.Net etc., Microsoft Office etc. Open vs. Closed Source Software – Advantages and Disadvantages For every advantage there exists disadvantage, therefore, both types of software have there exist advantages as well as disadvantages. Let’s talk about the advantages of both types, the advantages of the open source software include: free of cost, right to modify and redistribute the source code, the technology neutral or the open source software can be used with other software, freedom and flexibility of having multiple vendors, high security, quality, customizability, interoperability and audibility. "Open Source software tends to be free of dependency on related products. Purchasers of ten perceive that the product works best with other products from the same manufacturer. Open Source software offers its users greater freedom to purchase other products, avoiding lock-in to particular manufacturers." (QinetiQ, 2001) There are many disadvantages of the open source software as compared to the closed source software that include but not limited to the less availability of support, updates, less reliability as anyone can change / edit the code and