Information System Management
Open source software is a program whose source code is freely available for anyone to use or manipulate. A programmer writes algorithms that instruct a computer to perform a function or task and makes the source code available to all at no fee. A user then downloads the software and uses it or modifies it with no legal implications (Schloss et al., 2009). On the other hand, closed-source software refers to programs whose source code is strictly guarded for the financial benefit of its coders. A user has to purchase and get a license to run closed-source software legally.
The main objective behind coders making a program open source is to encourage other programmers to make improvements to its functionality. Contributors may come from anywhere around the globe, and different skills of programmers work as an advantage towards making a software product more efficient, reliable, and flexible. Contrary, improvements on closed source software can only be done by a software creator (Hoon, Imoto, Nolan & Miyano, 2004). Notably, a software creator may employ a team of coders to assist in extending the capabilities of software, but this comes with limitations since the coders have to be paid. Only a limited number of programmers can work on closed-source software as compared to the number that can contribute to an open-source program (Schloss et al., 2009).
Open source programs are of higher quality and more secure than closed source software due to the large number of contributors who closely monitor their code (Hoon et al., 2004). This gives a user regular updates and assurance of the software not going obsolete. Therefore, it cannot be said that the existence of closed-source software solely depends on the creator. The creator may not have enough resources to ensure that the software is of high standards and does not become obsolete. When it comes to support, closed source software developers are effective in providing their clients with well-structured documentation, fixing bugs, and general support than open source providers (Schloss et al., 2009).
References
Hoon, M. J., Imoto, S., Nolan, J., & Miyano, S. (2004). Open source clustering software. Bioinformatics, 20(9), 1453-1454.
Schloss, P. D., Westcott, S. L., Ryabin, T., Hall, J. R., Hartmann, M., Hollister, E. B., ... & Sahl, J. W. (2009). Introducing mothur: open-source, platform-independent, community-supported software for describing and comparing microbial communities. Applied and environmental microbiology, 75(23), 7537-7541.
