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Open-source software (OSS) is computer software whose easy-readable source code is widely available perhaps under copyright. People have the right to alter the software and redistribute it, whether modified or not. Development is often a common, combined process. It is declared that open source software may save buyers $60 billion per year.

Let’s look fixedly at some of the distribution criteria. Any redistribution must contain the source code. Reasonable reproduction disbursements are allowed, but the software is usually downloaded free per the Internet. Modifications must be distributed under the same time-frame as the original product. Discrimination against individuals, groups, or fields of application is inadmissible. The license may not specify use of any technology.

Open-source software ensues from the free software movement that started in 1983. The word free can mean no cost or at liberty. To shun this uncertainty, people started using the term open-source software. Netscape released its Internet browser source code as open source. Yet the company was sold for several billion dollars in spite of the fact, that users didn’t have to pay even to download the browser.

Here are several rules of open-source software development. Users should be treated as co-developers. They can add important features to the software. The more users means the more testing environments. Microsoft has partly accepted this principle by making beta versions of software such as Windows 7 available to millions of people. The software should be released at the right time to get more people implicated as soon as possible. The fixes should be added quickly rather than towards the end of the project. The software should be out in at least two versions, one with more features and the other more stable.

Does open-source software work? Let’s scrutinize some good results. Linux is a widely used operating system, inherently a variant of the decades-old Unix operating system. Many organizations have adopted Linux replacing Microsoft Windows based systems. Firefox is the second most widely used Internet browser.

Open-source software doesn’t always come in second. For more than a dozen years Apache has been the most widely used Internet web server. It is well connected with other open-source software such as Linux but also works with Microsoft Windows. If you want the latest Apache updates and fixes (and presumably most web hosting companies do) you will get them first for Linux and only later for Microsoft Windows.

How do people earn money when the open-source software is given away gratuitously? There are several answers. Some people and companies obtain money from consulting and training fees. Another possibility is charging for advanced product versions.

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