Open Source Software

Open Source Software Army

Enlist the Open Source Software Army

We are huge proponents of enlisting the open source software army whenever possible. The open source software movement is quite an incredible phenomenon. It is the kind of business evolution that will be written about for decades to come. In fact, the term revolution might be a better way to characterize it. Why should you care? For starters, open source software is free. But there is much more to love.

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

Isaac Newton famously referenced this idea which dates back to the twelfth century. It refers to the idea of leveraging the ideas and intellectual developments of notable thinkers of the past. In our opinion, open source is one of the best examples of this principle in action. By leveraging open source software as a business, you are literally able to build on platforms that represent the work of millions of man hours. Think Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP and Asterisk to name a few. It is really quite staggering when you consider the body of code that open source is responsible for and is available for anyone to use.

OPEN SOURCE DEFINED

By definition, open source software is computer software that has freely accessible source code and is provided under licensing terms that allows anyone to view, modify, improve and in most cases, distribute the software. The most popular open source software is developed through collaboration of a community of developers who have a common interest in the particular software.

A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE ABOUT SOFTWARE

The market demand for a particular solution is what spawns a new open source project, but it is the enthusiasm of the community to drive the collaborative process that determines whether a movement will ultimately see widespread adoption. One of the coolest things about open source projects is that the millions of contributors are not motivated by money, but by pride and a desire to up end a market and ultimately leave their mark. This is quite obvious since most of the contributions made to open source projects are made by unpaid individuals. It is the satisfaction of knowing that they are part of something bigger—something that often comes along and reshapes an entire industry.