Open Source: It Makes Good Business Sense

Open Source software has had a strong and loyal following for quite some time, beginning with the creation of the Free Software Foundation in 1985, which made popular the idea of freely available software for the general public. But while programmers, hobbyists and consumers have usually made up most of the adherents of the Open Source philosophy, businesses have typically shied away—until now. In the past few years, corporations have jumped onto the Open Source bandwagon, if only tentatively at first. Signs of this phenomenon are the dwindling market share of Microsoft’s Windows Operating System and Microsoft Office software packages to Linux-based personal computers running competitive business software offerings.

There is no doubt that Linux has proven to be a major catalyst in the adoption of Open Source software by businesses. Major corporations such as IBM have boosted the popularity of Linux by making the operating system available on their high-end servers. Several reasons are touted for choosing Linux over the competing Windows operating system, not the least of which is speed. On benchmark tests Linux-equipped web servers performed considerably faster than their Windows counterparts. Further, Linux is more reliable and is rarely the target of hacker attacks. Additionally, IBM has a vast network of potential programmers at its disposal to continue development of the Linux platform. There are currently over 1.2 million developers worldwide with Linux skills.

The most obvious allure of Open Source software for businesses is that magic word “free.” Consumers always like to obtain free software (provided it is done so legally), but corporations have an even bigger incentive to do so. This is because businesses must usually buy a separate license for each user of a commercial software package. In addition, licenses eventually expire and the company must renew its licenses to ensure continued support. Then there is the headache of upgrades when new versions of the software come out. Freely available Open Source software, on the other hand, is a welcome relief from the costly licensing and upgrade costs of commercial software.

Besides the attractive price of an Open Source platform, the next major reason that businesses switch is stability. Proprietary operating systems such as Windows are notorious for constant system crashes, bugs, and the continual need for additional patches and updates to keep the systems operating properly. Many factors contribute to this instability, but a major cause is that the software is constantly upgraded with more and more “features,” earning it the moniker of “bloatware.” Open Source platforms, conversely, have a reputation for being amazingly stable, and requiring less hardware and memory capacity to run than their commercial counterparts. Open Source applications are generally designed to be leaner, although that does not mean that they all run as command-line applications only. Linux has an X-Windows application that effectively mimics the look and feel of Microsoft Windows.

In this age of Information Warfare, security is another major concern for businesses choosing Open Source software solutions. Here the debate gets heated between the merchants of vendor-specific software and those in the Open Source software community. Microsoft, for example, has gone on the offensive by claiming that Open Source systems are less secure than “closed-source” proprietary software products. The implication is that because Open Source is “open,” with the source code freely available, that hackers can more easily exploit vulnerabilities. However, this claim has not been borne out in reality. Tests revealed that Open Source software programs such as Apache web server demonstrated fewer vulnerabilities than Windows Internet Information Server. Hackers do not really need to know the source code to a program in order to break it. They can simply send the program incorrect input, and infer its defects by observing how it responds.

There are many good reasons for embracing Open Source for your business, but before doing so, you should first consider your particular needs. Will your business expand in such a way that the Open Source platform you are considering will scale with your growth? Compare various offerings in light of both present and anticipated growth of your business. Consult with your current Information Technology professionals to determine if they feel comfortable with the Open Source offerings for your needs. Some businesses slowly make the switch to Open Source by targeting specific applications at first, such as the company’s intranet web server. Other companies eventually decide that they still favor certain features of their vendor-specific software, and so they choose a hybrid solution: using commercial applications for some of their solutions, and Open Source for the others. Do some testing in a limited environment first, before you decide to scale to an enterprise-wide solution.

Article by Futuretrend Web Team