figure 1. Open source initiative logo [1]
Open source software is a free software that can be modified and distributed by anyone [2]. Consumer utilizes open-source software as a free alternative to proprietary software. While businesses use open-source to save and/or make money. Academia has used open source to study and learn different software technology. The use and study of open source has had a beneficial impact on economics and innovation in software technology.
When people think of open-source, they think of free software that they can use without worrying about the cost [3]. For instance, you can download and install Openoffice for free as opposed to Microsoft office that can cost hundreds of dollars. Openoffice, an open source project, provides the same type of tools to write a paper or to create a presentation. For every popular proprietary software that is sold to consumers, there is a good chance that a free open source alternative exists.
figure 2. Open Office logo [4]
Not only has businesses adopted open-source software many has taken the open source software and modified it to provide services to people as part of their business model. Companies such as Google, Yahoo and facebook have utilized open-source software such as the Mysql database and the Apache web server, to provider a service to the consumer [5]. Some companies such as Yahoo has contributed to the open-source by creating the Hadoop software [6]. Open-source software has had a significant impact on how business is done.
figure 3. Hadoop logo[7]
Academia has used open-source software to study different subjects in computer science and engineering. The openness and the availability of the source code enables academics to study and make modification to the existing software [8]. Through these studies and modification, academia has lead in innovation and improvements in software. Consumers and businesses have greatly benefited from these improvements.
[1] Open source initiative logo. Retrieved from
http://dsp.rice.edu/lml/open
[2] The Open Source Initiative. Retrieved from
http://opensource.org/
[3] Open Source. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source
[4] Apache OpenOffice. Retrieved from
https://www.openoffice.org/
[5] Newsmaker: A look inside Google’s open-source kitchen. by Joris Evers. Retrieved from
http://news.cnet.com/A-look-inside-Googles-open-source-kitchen/2008-7344_3-6143465.html
[6] Apache Hadoop. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Hadoop
[7] Hadoop logo.svg. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hadoop_logo.svg
[8] OpenBSD. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenBSD
I learned that Academia uses open source software to further innovation in technology, but having some examples of how they accomplished that would be nice. Giving a brief description about some of the open source software you have mentioned would be greatly beneficial to the reader. Other than that you have a good blog, marred with some grammar issues, some probably caused by the formatting. Also I would add a title to your posts, along with an image.
ReplyDeleteBSD also known as Berkley Unix is an example of academia use of open source software. Basically, Berkley took ATT unix and improved it.
DeleteOpenoffice is equivalent to Microsoft office, except it's free and open source.
Hadoop is a map reduce framework for storing and retrieving large sets of data.
Mysql is a database, probably the most popular database used for the web.
Apache is the most popular web server used on the internet.
I think I got them all, let me know if I missed something.
I learned that if you are looking for a piece of software there is a good chance that you can get a free open source alternative with a similar function. I feel that the information was covered quite well for the scope of the blog, although i think having a picture would help break up the text.
ReplyDeleteOk
DeleteJust for you I've added some pictures.