The evolution of the open source computer and the battle between advocates of open and closed source software are both fascinating. The outcome will shape the way we do computing…
In the information technology landscape, Open Source Software (OSS) is becoming the most interesting phenomenon. Like the way Internet generated interest, OSS is also attracting similar curiosity. OSS is not a new phenomenon, but it has reached a critical stage in recent years and entered the mainstream software market in a big way. Its impact is quite noticeable in the industry. Open source revolution helps to develop novel models and to take advantage of the work of developers spread across all corners of the planet. Further, it enables development of completely new business models, which are shaping a network of groups and companies.
In 1991, a Finnish hacker Linus Torvalds posted the following message to a discussion group: "I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones." This was finally labeled as Linux, and grown into a mainstream operating system. However, the Linux case is just a tip of the iceberg today going by a wide range of OSS available, and new projects are being started all the time. Open source refers to software in which the source code is freely available for others to view, amend, and adopt. Typically it's created and maintained by a team of developers without any institutional and national boundaries. It can't be appropriated by any one large proprietary vendor, but it is generally more stable than proprietary software. |
