What is Open Source?

Owned by the Community, for the Community

Unlike commercially-licensed software, open source software is developed collaboratively and is owned by a community. The source code is freely available, and users are permitted and encouraged to change, improve, and – depending on the terms of the open source license – redistribute the software.

The result is a paradigm that moves development teams away from being locked into a vendor and provides benefits from cost savings, access to source code and continued innovation.

Benefits of Open Source Software

Development teams in many industries have chosen to work with open source because of the unique characteristics of open source software:
	Cost savings—Users do not pay a license fee to adopt open source software, nor do they pay for updates. This eliminates the large upfront cost typically associated with infrastructure development, and significantly reduces the total cost of the project.
	Vendor neutrality—Open source software is developed and owned by the community. Users of the project are not locked in to a vendor’s platform or a single provider for services, nor are users forced to buy proprietary modules or adopt prerequisite technology.
	Flexibility—By definition, open source projects make the source code available and are modifiable. This allows enterprises to better understand the code, fix bugs, and edit the code to add unique features. Users are never at the mercy of a vendor.
	Right sized—Closed source vendors typically sell large, comprehensive suites and force customers to buy and maintain more software than they need. Community-owned open source projects are packaged the way users want then, and users to deploy just what they need.
	Innovation—With a large community that includes end users contributing to the project, open source software has proven itself to be a practical vehicle for the latest technological advancements. And with a large community freely downloading and using the projects, code quality remains high.

What Open Source Is Not

The open source approach is a new paradigm for developing software, not a new name for an old marketing program or delivery channel.

Open source software is not freeware.

Freeware is usually proprietary and distributed in binary-only form so that the provider can retain some control over the user. While open source software is also free, in contrast, it is owned by a community whose primary motivation is to free users from vendor control.

Open source software is not shareware.

Shareware is copyrighted software that is free for a trial period or with certain features disabled, but users are expected to pay for it in order to deploy. Open source software consists of complete packages intended to be deployed in full production scenarios.

Open source development is not free.

The code is available without licensing fees, but services used to support development are comparably priced to services for commercially available software. Development teams may need to draw on the expertise of of others to architect, develop and deploy.

You may also be interested in…

• Open Source Integration and Messaging – how OS is changing the game
• Why Open Source is Good For Your Business – what it means to you
• How to Use Open Source Software Safely in the Enterprise – an expert guide
• Case studies – learn how others are taking advantage of open source
• Join – Sounds interesting? join our community and be a part of the action!