Open Source Software vs Closed Source Software

Feller, Fitzgerald, Hissam and Lakhani (2005, 18) suggest the term "open source software" refers to software products that are distributed, modified, and used by any user without payment to an author for such uses. Feller et al (2005, 18) outline that "products such as the GNU/Linux operating system, the Apache Web server, the Mozilla Web browser, the PHP programming language, and the OpenOffice productivity suite are all well-known examples of this kind of software". In addition to this, the Free Software Foundation lists hundreds of other free software in their Free Software Directory that is free for users to browse, download, use, modify, redistribute etc. The key characteristic of open source software is that anyone can edit and modify the software, however, this is usually done by teams of users in the community (Bruns 2008). The concept of open source software has various parallels with the advantageous characteristics of online communities and the key principles of produsage. Development and editing of the software is done in direct response to user needs, typically because it is being edited by the users themselves. Opensource.org sums up the key advantages of open source software perfectly.

"The basic idea behind open source is very simple: When programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software, the Software evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems astonishing." (opensource.org in Bruns 2008).

This practice differs significantly to the somewhat traditional idea of "closed source software" where the source code remains confidential. Such closed source software examples include Windows, Office and Internet Explorer. These programs are developed by paid staff teams of a company and therefore are subject to hierarchical directions and restrictions. This more traditional idea of closed source software runs various parallels to the characteristics describing offline communities. This sort of software development is based on a business model and perhaps one of it's main objectives is to sell the software and make a profit. By doing this, obviously they are going to strive to produce something that is responsive to user needs in order to sell more, but perhaps they may not be quite so focused on, or have as much of an idea of, what exactly it is that the user needs compared with a group of community users that create open source software.

References:

Feller, J., B. Fitzgerald, S. Hissam and K. Lakhani. (2005). Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software. Retrieved May 10, 2008, from http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/chapters/0262562278.pdf