Open Source Software (from tech_pickle)

And my opinion about it.

I love Open Source. In fact, I'm typing this post on an OS that I downloaded last week, and I will never be arrested for it. I got to reuse old hardware that my mother would have otherwise thrown out, and make it new again, just by installing this operating system.

While I was installing, I was reading all the benefits of open source software. Let me tell you about it:

Security: Open source software is not owned by anyone. It is developed by everyone. Windows is attacked because it costs so much and makes so few people very stinking rich (it is also buggy.) Therefore, Linux and other open source software packages are not a succeptible to attacks and vulnerabilities as the corporate-owned packages are.

Compatibility: Linux is developed by a team of volunteers (even you can join the effort if you have something to offer) and updates are released almost daily to allow Linux to use the latest hardware and take advantage of new features. This method is a bit better than a corporation releasing updates and changing compatibility whenever it feels like it.

Support: There are tons of forums and groups on the web to help you with any question you may have about using any open source software. Just Google it. You can even pay for support from some of these organizations.

Cost: The most attractive part of open source software (especially Linux) is that it's free. Sure, you can pay around $50-$80 for a distribution of Mandrake or Suse Linux and get free support, but you can just as easily download the images and seamlessly install it on your old machine. Most distributions have support and power management to accomodate portable computers, to include wireless networking.

Many organizations are looking toward open source software solutions for their corporate networks and workstations. The company I work for employs several Linux machines, and they are very efficient. One machine at $6,000 does the work of a $55,000 Cisco router. Tell me that's not cost effective.

A few countries in Africa are switching, as well. Seems appropriate that they save some money, Africa being in the state that it is.

Drag that old computer out and dust it off. You just might be surprised.