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Open and Closed Source Software

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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. Even not having to have used it you general know licensed software are reliable for what they are. Are they going to solve all your problems or give you want you want? No, but you know what you can get out of them and what you cannot. A lot of these software are back by companies hence support. Support for trouble shoot, support to use it and etc. License also gives you little defense in terms of non-functional legal actions can actually be taken versus to open source no one really is responsible with licensing they kind of have to abide to laws and rules. Like I said before one of the cons of closed source is the cost, the other is that you cannot alter it. By this I mean yes you can customize things, but not on source code level and you can only customize it with in boundaries they allow you to. Updates/fixes also takes a lot longer than open source codes. Open source code, well if closed source is closed what you think open source is? That is right you are free to edit and modified it. Examples of Open software are Python (scripting/language), Fire Fox, Linux, MySQL and Samba. Unlike closed source the general users do not know half of the open sources software or even know they are open resource software. An open source code is, “a program or software in which the source code (the form of the program when a programmer writes a program in a particular programming language) is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge. Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community (Beal, 2014).” Unity of people building certain job and something special for everyone to use. This is the beauty with open source code and the fact that is cheap or free is not a bad thing at all. Open source has faster fix bug rate than closed source by great margin. Did I mention before customizable? Well it is by the best feature. With customization and often things that are free quality of the item is unreliable and very uncertain. Unless you can read code the things you get in open source do not have to abide in rules it could just be a big hacking software that supposed to manage your banking payments but in reality getting information from you. Or like Firefox can be one of most reliable search engines today. You really do not know what you going to get with open source code and that’s its main con. We just iron some of details what open source and close source software are. We know one can be expensive and one is not. When can be hit or miss and one can serve the purpose of what you want. Each have their own beauty. However, as users you the only can really decide what is right for you. They have their own risk and usefulness just depends what you want to do. Open source with right resources it can do wonders. While closed source they develop to new height it may take a while, but least you know is reliable. Try both of them out see which one is for you.

Reference

M. (2013, February 14). Open and Closed Source Software [Video file].
Retrieved from youtube.com website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clBL4PN8QlU
CG Computers and Electronics (2013, November 19).
The difference between open source and closed source software [Video file]. Retrieved from youtube.com website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl01As81M3E
Vidal, C. (2015). Comparison between open source and closed source software.
Retrieved from http://info.nsiserv.com/network-support-computer-services-CT/bid/29956/Comparison-between-open-source-and-closed-source-software
Proprietary Software. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.techopedia.com/definition/4333/proprietary-software Beal, Vangie. (2014). What is Open Source Software?.
Retrieved from: http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Computer_Science/open_source.asp

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