Open/Closed Source Software

Open/Closed Source Software

Joe Snuffy

POS/355

January 28, 2013

Open/Closed Source Software

Although Microsoft Windows is one of the most common known Operating Systems, it is no secret that this OS comes with a price tag. It may come to a surprise to many people that there are forms of Operating Systems software available for personal use for free, and are able to be modified by tweaking its source code. While some vendors offer this kind of software completely free, there are other vendors who charge hundreds of dollars for closed source software that is unable to be modified.

There are several advantages and disadvantages to using Free and Open Source Software, also known as FOSS, compared to its counterpart known as Closed Source Operating Systems. To decide which form of software is right for a certain individual, one must take into consideration its intended use, hardware/software compatibility potential issues, and commercial support among others.

Open Source Operating Systems

In general terms, open source software allows editing and tweaking the software’s source code. In addition to this feature, open source software is generally free. Some examples of open source software are Linux, openSUSE, PC BSD, and Ubuntu among many others (Reyes, 2010).

One of the biggest considerations to take when deciding which of the many open source operating systems to decide on is the intended purpose of such system. It is worth mentioning that open source OS variations include both desktop and server platforms. For either of these platforms, there is always plenty of technical support available, but not through the means that most people are used to. Technical support comes via the users themselves, through technical bulletin boards, social media sites, or one of the many other sources available at numerous sites (Open/closed Source Networking”, 2007).

Closed Source Software

In comparison to open source software, closed source software is not able to...