"There is no such thing as a free lunch," wrote science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein in 1966. Or TANSTAAFL among abbreviation freaks. Abbreviated or not: There is a truth that everything has a cost.
Nevertheless, in recent years there has been a wave of programs that are free to use and free to build on. Some call it hippie software. The supporters call it open source.
Whatever they are called, they are already widely used. For example, half of the web servers on the internet in August were based on an open source program Apache. This corresponds to 88,047,801 installations. Apache is not the only example. There are office packages, operating systems, content editing systems, web browsers and much more. All in all billions of lines of code that anyone can use as they want.
But where does all this effort come from? One of the most comprehensive examples is Linux operating system. This project was founded in 1991 by Linus Thorvald, who was then a student at Helsinki University. Ever since, thousands of developers from all over the world have contributed to his project - without any kind of cash reward. Only incentives are recognition from other unpaid contributors.
***
This work has continued, but has been complemented by a new one: Many of the major IT companies have today employed developers who contribute to the open source wave. The reason is simple: You must use the software all you want without cost. You must also change it, all you want. But your changes should be made available to the original project.
That way, more and more programming code is available. In other words, the working method is as in the research world: You always stand on each other's shoulders by always working on others' results.
Where does the money come from? If you have to be a little honest, many - but not all - of these programs require the big four-master exam to install. Therefore, a fairly large number of suppliers have been paid to implement or maintain the software. They have typically gained the skills of unpaid labor in open source development projects.
Another way to make money on open source is through sponsorship support: just under 20 per cent. of the world's Internet users use a browser called Mozilla, which is developed as open source.
In the latest fiscal year, the Mozilla organization had a turnover of DKK 342 million, 85 per cent. of revenue comes from Google. Cause? If you type something in the Mozilla browser search box that can not be found immediately, the search will be sent to Google. And traffic = money.
***
Last week, Google launched its own internet browser, Google Chrome. It is based on the same basic code as the Mozilla browser. And then new, exciting facilities have been added. Among other things. components that make the browser much faster. These have been developed by Google's development department in Katrinebjerg in Aarhus in recent years.
It is not only the extensions to the basic code that Google makes publicly available. The same will be the brand new facilities. In other words, Google has paid Danish, highly-paid IT developers to develop something that they're giving away. Again, the cause is indirect: Google is dependent on their services running quickly on users' PC. Therefore, the new facilities are a long-term means of achieving competitive advantages for Google's core services.
One would think that free and open software is more vulnerable than licensed software based on the argument: When everyone can see how the program is made, everyone can find the security holes. But the opposite argument applies: There are many to correct these problems, as everyone knows the programs and thus can search for vulnerabilities. This was last proven at the launch of Google's new browser. A few hours after the beta version was launched, the first security holes were reported and solutions suggested.
Open source programs have undoubtedly come to stay, but they are not free. They require new skills and pay for new things. But one must learn from the big IT giants, so they open up all new strategic perspectives.
<br /><hr/><em>Posted on <a href="https://utopian.io/utopian-io/@beulahlandeu/pros-and-cons-of-open-source">Utopian.io - Rewarding Open Source Contributors</a></em><hr/>
hiveblocks