Myths about Open Source Software

Open-source is a rapidly expanding field in software development. As the field grows and expands from technological professionals to everyday users and businesses who do not understand all of the software’s details, myths and rumors about open-source software spread. For example, a common misunderstanding about open-source is that companies only use it because it does not cost money like its proprietary counterparts. However, when interviewed, a surprising number of business claim the price (or lack thereof) is irrelevant. The switch from a commercial operating system to an open-source version, such as Linux, has performance improvements like less server failures and increased application running speed.

Another myth about open-source software is that there is no support for problems. There is no vendor and no technological support team to call when the server is failing. However, although there is not one single vendor to turn to, most open-source software programs have a large body of developers, mailing lists, and archived support databases. Multiple sources of support can be better and more efficient than a single vendor, resulting in faster problem solving and less downtime for businesses.

MFinally, open-source software use is often inaccurately described as a legal minefield. In reality, a variety of open-source licenses exist. Additionally, some open-source companies, such as Red Hat and JBoss, have announced they will protect their users from any legal consequences about copyright or patent infringement. Although this does not completely shield users from the legal consequences of using a small piece of copyrighted code within an piece of software, for most businesses, the benefits of open-source outweigh the costs.

If you are interested in using open-source software in your business, the developers at Mpower can help.