Open Source2; If you are not a programmer.

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Oct 25, 2001

If you are a programmer, there are clear advantages to you of having the source code of a program available. Firstly you can make changes to the program. So if things don't work you could fix them. If the program does not have a feature you need, you could add it. Most computer users are not programmers, even to the extent of being able to write the most simple of programs, which would let them cut out a lot of drudge work. Very few users are ever going to take the time to understand a large software package and start making major improvements, so does Open Source software have any real benefits for them?

The first major benefit is that you have far more assurance that an Open Source program is high quality software, because even if you don't have the skills to look in the program for faults, others do. In general things which are never seen outside your own company tend to be of lower standard than things you put on display for everyone to see.

The second advantage is the freedom which you, other users and programmers have. If you can't make changes to the software yourself, you can always search for someone to do it for you and and there is always a possibility for a new team of programmers to start developing in a different direction (technically termed a fork). There are innumerable software companies who's users literally hate them. The users once made a decision to buy some software because it looked like it was just what they were after. That judgment has in one sense been proved a good one, because they are still using the same system. If users pay good money for software and then find it is useless that is bad, but the worst thing that can happen is to find that it is useful, but has major problems.

The problems may not be obvious at first, they may only arise as the world changes. Eg. a database may have been fine while the company's employees were the only people who had to access it, but with the rise of the Internet it may be a good idea to let customers have direct access. The users then hit a major problem, they have invested a lot in the existing system, but really want something different. New functions may be offered in a new improved more expensive version, but they may not fit the new needs of everyone. If the software company has ceased trading, the software can be a dead end as no other company can take it over.

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