What is open source?
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock these last few years chances are you’ve heard a lot about open source.
Some of what you’ve heard about open source might light up your imagination to infinite possibilities, while other things may well have put some doubt into your mind. Regardless of where you’re at with open source technologies (like Asterisk), there’s no debating that open source is here to stay.
So what does open source mean?
In a broad sense, the term open source is used to describe a model in which the design, development, and distribution of a product (hard good or software) is done through wide and open accessibility that product’s source.
Specific to software, like Asterisk, it describes a broad general type of software license that makes source code available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent copyright restrictions. This means that anyone for any purpose can access, use, manipulate and or contribute back to the source code.
Benefits of open source software
Open source software is growing in popularity do the various benefits that are derived from use. In general, open source software offers the following benefits:
- Reliability - There’s a fallacy that open source software is less reliable than its propreitary counterparts. This is not true. It actually every bit as reliable as proprietary counterparts and in many cases open source software is more relaible.
- Stability - Since open source softwares have hundreds or even thousands of engineers improving the source code each and every day the software is continually improving.
- Auditability - Open source adds a new level of transparency since one can “see inside” to confirm feature, functionality and operational claims.
- Cost - Nothing beats free
- Flexibility and Freedom -Because it’s license free and completely open, you can do whatever it is that you wish with it. This flexibility and freedom is perhaps the most powerful benefitof using open source softwares.
- Support and Accountability - Part of the reason that open source is successful is that there is a community of built around it. From professional firms to freelancers there are multiple options for supporting a piece of open source software.
