...IT 320 Research Paper 2 Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has been a pinnacle of the corporate world ever since it came around. It has been an easy to use and replicate without worry of patent or licensing infringement. However, in 2006 Microsoft found that many of their patents had been infringed upon by several different aspects. The Linux kernel found in most servers was one of them. Microsoft took a big leap going after FOSS for 235 patents. FOSS is run by Stallman who was responsible for the GNU Manifesto also known to most as the GNU General Public License (GPL) . With Microsoft heading the full speed train against FOSS it took a demanding tire on both parties. While Microsoft, in the mean time was also striking a deal with Novell on its Linux based server support. FOSS was sure to go under as Linux was the base of all its open source used in many applications and the applications within Linux such as samaba or Open Office. The Deal with Novell was made to walk around the GPL of the GNU and expose loop holes for Microsoft’s gain but also creating a pressing dilemma for the GNU. The deal struck between Novell and Microsoft was a “we don’t sue you and you don’t sue us” which indicates that not only was FOSS involved in patent infringement but also Microsoft. The Deal included over 200 million dollars to Novell and 43 Million to Microsoft for “license distribution” of Novells’ Server software. The after effects of this deal resulted in a addition...
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...there's a shadow hanging over Linux and other free software, and it's being cast by Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500). The Redmond behemoth asserts that one reason free software is of such high quality is that it violates more than 200 of Microsoft's patents. And as a mature company facing unfavorable market trends and fearsome competitors like Google (Charts, Fortune 500), Microsoft is pulling no punches: It wants royalties. If the company gets its way, free software won't be free Anymore. The conflict pits Microsoft and its dogged CEO, Steve Ballmer, against the "free world" - people who believe software is pure knowledge. The leader of that faction is Richard Matthew Stallman, a computer visionary with the look and the intransigence of an Old Testament prophet. Microsoft counters that it is a matter of principle. "We live in a world where we honor, and support the honoring of, intellectual property," says Ballmer in an interview. FOSS patrons are going to have to "play by the same rules as the rest of the business," he insists. "What's fair is fair." (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/) What impact have these events made since then? Or will they make? Well, Linux is still alive and active, and all of the products you mentioned are still active as well. Ubuntu just got a new release today, and it still includes Samba and many other FOSS programs. Overall, I'd say open source software is still going strong, with no signs of stopping...
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...In 2006, Microsoft posted a high-level summary of 235 patents that were allegedly violated by free and open source software (Foss), including the Linux kernel, samba, openoffice.org and others. Shortly after that, MS entered into a series of three contracts with NOVELL, one of which was a patent agreement that said, "don’t sue us and we won't sue you" At the time of this scenario, some dire consequences were predicted for Foss. This is how Foss has fared since then. Well, Linux is still alive and active, and all of the products you mentioned are still active as well.. Overall, I'd say open source software is still going strong, with no signs of stopping in the near future The impact that those events have made since then, or possibly make in the future are. The claim of Microsoft patents in Linux surfaced in 2004, when Ballmer misquoted a Pub Pat study and claimed Linux violated 228 patents. In 2007, Microsoft followed up telling Forbes that Linux and open source violated 235 patents: 42 in the Linux kernel, Linux graphical user interfaces violated 65, Open Office 45, various free/open e-mail programs violated another 15, and assorted, sundry free/open-source software programs violated 68 Microsoft patents. Since then, Microsoft’s been diligently squaring away patent protection and licensing deals with Linux companies. The starting point, and summit, was the 2006 deal with Novell. Tom Tom has been a long time coming. It is still not known how the tom tom lawsuit will...
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...OPEN-SOURCE MOVEMENT AND THE FUTURE ITSU1003 INTRODUCTION TO OPEN-SOURCE Generally computer software sources (the human readable version of the software) are of two kinds; closed and open. Open-source programming has been prominently growing in the past ten years. In this model, programmers share their codes freely in order to be modified and used by others. They are allowed to alter and change the original software as much as they like. This in turn will produce higher quality software with improved features. For the open-source programs to be reliable, some sort of licenses has been approved by Open Source Initiative (OSI) which is a “non-profit corporation dedicated to managing and promoting the open-source definition for the good of the community, especially through the OSI Certified Open-source software certification mark and program.” HISTORY OF OPEN-SOURCE Open-source began to form in the hacker’s society of the United States computer science laboratories such as Stanford and MIT in the late 1960’s. Programmers were members of societies in which each member was expected to share his or her code among the society members. This would apply improvements on different codes by members of the society. In addition, programmers were able to use each other’s knowledge in their own interest mutually. By the early 1980’s the university hacker societies began to collapse, and the hackers were hired by commercial companies producing proprietary systems (systems that required...
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...Open Closed Source Systems - GNU-GPL Paul Ray POS/355 March 23, 2014 Ptof. Singh, MBA, PMP, CCIE Open Closed Source Systems - GNU-GPL The Linux kernel is distributed under the GNU general public license (GPL), the terms of which are set out by the Free Software Foundation. (Stallings, 2011) Linux is not public-domain software. Public domain implies that the authors have waived copyrights in the software, but copyright rights in Linux code are still held by the code's various authors. Linux is free software, however, in the sense that people can copy it, modify it, use it in any manner they want, and give away their own copies, without any restrictions. "Without a community of developers their probably would not be any free software.” (Wolf, Miller, & Grodzinsky, 2009, para. 1). Wolf (2009) GNU is a Unix-like operating system that is free software that respects your freedom. You can install versions of GNU (more precisely, GNU/Linux systems) which are entirely free software. GNU stands for GNU is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not UNIX!" Wolf (2009) Free Software (FS) is a notion that was first introduced by Richard Stallman in 1984 at the beginning of the GNU project. The Free Software Foundation (FSF), founded in 1985, supports the ethic of Free Software, which is embodied in the GNU General Public License (GPL). The FSF defines free software as a software licensed so that it supports four freedoms. The first and fourth freedoms are pertinent to...
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...OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE What are reasons for business to use open source software? With the current economy difficulties, companies are trying to find areas in their businesses where they can save money. Many companies are having no choice but to let people go. Some businesses try to avoid lay-offs and instead are looking in other areas to save money. One of the areas is, of course, the IT department; software application acquisition is an area that might lead to a big money savings. Even in financially difficulties times, businesses want or need to improve their application environment. Sometimes it might even be necessary to invest in the IT infrastructure for long-term savings, which may result in the company not needing to close their doors. But many business owners or CEO’s will question if open source software is ready for business. This research paper intends to answer this question. The best reason to use open source software in a business environment is cost savings. This gives the business freedom to use software and change the source code in other words, modify how the software application is used, as it is needed. Open source removes the need for dependence on single vendor solutions and it provides very high quality applications and very good support. To understand open source software it is important to know what open source is, and what the meaning of open source software is. This research paper will also show where open source came from; the history of open...
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...between open source and proprietary? Open source software is free to use. It provides original source codes used to create it, so more advanced users are able to make necessary modifications to make it work better for them. Proprietary software, also known as closed source software, is owned by the original company that developed it, and it may not be altered without permission from the source of origin. Open source is usually free, whereas proprietary software will have a fee available before usage. In terms of support, open source has a community of users and developers that are available, and proprietary support is generally provided by the vendor at cost. With the ownership of source codes, open source, again, is free; therefore, there is no ownership. As for proprietary, the organization that created the code has full ownership. Modifications of proprietary source codes can only be modified by the organization or the creator, but anyone can modify any open source code. Both obviously operate on computers and are typically coded by IT experts. When business owners are deciding between open source and proprietary, it is important to consider the advantages and disadvantages of both. Some advantages that come with using open source is that since it is free, there are less licensing requirements. The bug fixes can be applied quickly without awaiting an approval process. The software can be audited with ease for security reasons. One disadvantage of open source software is that...
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...Introduction To Open Source – Open source media means media software with no restrictions There are open source forms of media and closed source forms of media. Open source has been growing more and more rapidly in the past decade as most forms of media we have discussed in class on Friday mornings. With an open source form of media software, programmers share their codes freely in order to be modified and used by others. They are allowed to alter and change software with improved features. For open source programs to be reliable, licensing has to be approved by Open Source Initiative, which is a corporation that certifies shares and promotes open source software. Where Open Source Came From Open Source began with the Hacker’s society of the United States computer science lab in Stanford MIT in the late 1960’s. It was a collective were members shared their code with other members. This would allow members to use each other’s knowledge to improve their own interest. In the 1980’s the Hackers Society began to fall apart after the members were hired by commercial companies to produce systems that required users to purchase a license in order to use them. Later they left those commercial companies and recreated the hackers’ society. One of the first open source systems was a Unix compatible operating system named GNU by Richard Stallman. What The Open Source Is Open source is similar to “free software”, but the open-source users are generally able...
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...proprietary closed source software, this software is copyrighted and exclusively owned by the person or company that had the software copyrighted. Users of the software are not allowed to make any changes to the software without the owners consent and must only use and obtain the software if a license is purchased from the owner or company. In some cases, this software can only run add on components from the proprietary owner. Owners also charge a price for their software, which is part of the licensing agreement with the perspective end user. Closed source software is also known to provide some type of technical support and warranty, which is part of the licensing agreement. So if the user is having problems or experience some type of malfunction, they are guaranteed to receive some type of assistance should a problem arise. Open Source software on the other hand is not licensed exclusively under the same rights as closed sourced program. This type of software is available under a free license that allow others to do further research on the software as well as making modifications to it. Since it is under a free license the software is normally free of charge for users. Open source software can also be distributed through various forms compared to the restricted distribution of close source software. Open source software is also not under any type of warranty as the software is free. So if a user happens to have some type of malfunction with open source software, they are not...
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...Open Versus Close Source Software Tristan San Juan 03/17/2015 POS/355 Brian Davis Open versus Closed Source software? Which is better? There are many questions behind which software is better. There are literary many pros and cons on both of the soft wares. It comes down to the users’ limitation and preferable on which one is to use. Some people have both and use them for different reasons. As you read on we going to clarify some features on each kind of software to further explain the difference between the two kinds of software. Closed source Software, most users are going to be familiar with this. Windows, Adobe (Photoshop), Norton Anti-Virus and Mac OS are very fine example of what closed software are. In definition a closed software or aka a proprietary software is, “any software that is copyrighted and bears limits against use, distribution and modification that are imposed by its publisher, vendor or developer. Proprietary software remains the property of its owner/creator and is used by end-users/organizations under predefined conditions ("Proprietary Software", 2015).” Meaning it is what it is you cannot edit it in source code level, I mean you can hack it but most likely as users who doesn’t know anything about coding will most likely break it. One of the biggest sign when people see closed source software is it cost money, yes it does and you pay for what you get. Some of the benefits of having a closed source software is that is one its reliable quality...
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...Open Source and Closed Source Operating Systems POS/355 Jim W November 3, 2013 History repeats once again and proves that the saying, (two heads are better than one) continues to be true! The movement for the collaboration of the thinkers, inventors, and creators; to come together and share ideas and concepts that advance the development of mature and immature open source code is here to stay. The original hackers from the 1950’s (computer enthusiasts’) at MIT’s Tech Railroad Club left their programs in drawers for others to work on. This concept of sharing and developing source code for a wide range of functionality continues to enable programmers and students to use source code as a learning tool that sparks worldwide innovation! Open Source operating systems are usually free OS’s that can be manipulated via the source code format rather than the compiled binary code format, which is only available by closed source code. There are quite a few different open source code providers with the three most popular being GNU/Linux, BSD UNIX, and Solaris. Not only did the GNU/Linux open source operating system serve the standard OS features and function, it also produced many UNIX-compatible tools, including utilities, compilers and editors, but never released a kernel. The advantage of collaboration of the open source OS, Linus Torvalds, a student from Finland released a rudimentary UNIX-like kernel using the GNU compilers and tools and invented contributions worldwide. This...
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...and the data from shopping carts and other payment and shipping needs a database too. This article will go into a bit more detail on some of the types of databases that are available and how to pick the right one for your company. Open Source vs. Proprietary This is the big question on a lot of businesses minds these days. Rather to try and cut costs by integrating an Open Source database or a proprietary one. First off let us go over what open source means. Open source software, in this case a database, is software that generally has a limited license for free using. The software is developed and maintained by developers and coders around the world that continuously work at improving the software but providing security upgrades and bug fixes. Proprietary software on the other hand is generally developed, upgraded and patched by a company that sells or licenses the software usually with some type of technical support which may or may not be free, as a general rule of thumb, the technical support isn’t free forever, but may have a short contract for support within a given time frame. Advantages and disadvantages There are some advantages and disadvantages of course with each one of these type of software. The biggest is that one is generally free and the...
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...GNU General Public License Donny Leath GNU General Purpose License Open sourced software is increasing in popularity and use. The concept or definition of free software is basically the freedom to customize open sourced software to your liking without any restrictions on modification or sharing. The freedom to access code in order to alter and redistribute software freely is the motto of the open source software community. Although open source code is free, it must be licensed in order to be available and protected. The GNU General Public License is a free popular software license Linux which allows this freedom by utilizing terms and conditions that developers must follow. Purpose of GNU General Public License Licenses for proprietary software are used to deny users the ability to share or change the program. The GNU General Public License was created to rival this practice using the Linux kernel and maintain the free use of source code. It is intended to protect users from being denied rights to access source code, copy or modify software, distribution of software, and knowledge of those rights for all users. According to Hacker (1999), there are two steps that protects your rights using GPL: • Copyright or copyleft of the software. • Obtaining a license which allows you to legally copy, distribute, and/or modify the software. These steps are accomplished by establishing terms and conditions under the license that must...
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...Software development is an industry still in its infancy. Developing operating systems, the essential program for any computer system, is still evolving as the industry continues to grow. Software development has a unique attribute that sets it apart from other industries. Software can be developed once and then replicated for virtually no cost to be distributed to end users. All operating systems currently on the market have been created as a result of open- or closed-source software development. The major difference between the two development philosophies is the privacy of the source code, particularly whether or not it is available to the public for evaluation, modification, and redistribution. Closed-source operating systems like Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s Mac OS are more widely used in homes and businesses desktop and laptop computers. Although not as readily adopted, open-source operating systems offer viable alternatives to closed-source. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages associated with them. Closed-source software development more closely resembles the business philosophy used by other industries. Closed-source operating systems are developed by an individual, or team, and made available for purchase to the public. The source-code, however, is never revealed to the public. The product purchased is merely an executable file. The final product cannot legally be modified, sold, or distributed without permission from the copyright owner. In essence, purchasing...
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...Closed and Open Source There are a lot of things that go into a practical and an efficient operating system; one of which consist of a closed and an open source. To understand the sources of an operating system, it is best to find out and figure out what closed and open source is. Closed and Open source can be a disadvantage or an advantage of software development and cost sharing. The initial step is to recognize what it means to have a closed or open system, and what components are needed and will make up the requirement for software or an application to function. With both closed and open sources functioning differently as to how the system is programmed and structured and how the system will function within a software application or program. OPEN SOURCE Operating systems of an open source can be defined as free software developed by corporations or individuals to develop an alternate to not having to rely on any individual or one company to modify or change the software and maximize its used for the individuals or companies' advantages. Open source are typically free to use by each individual or companies to modify and changed without having to worry about the licensing and compliance to the original developer of the software being used. These are the advantages to an open source system. * Unlimited Community Support: With the public support, the alteration and transformation of the system is more frequently, more elaborating on time to develop a greater...
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