The Benefits of Open-Source Software

Now that we have already discussed the basics of open-source software on this blog (if you haven’t seen the post I’m talking about, you can find it in the open-source software category on my blog – where you will find more information on the topic of open-source software), I would like to present to you some other important issues related to it. Namely, a lot of people on the internet are arguing whether or not OSS is a good thing, and to my disbelief, I’ve stumbled upon quite a few people who are against it. While I do understand where they are coming from, I would also like to state my beliefs regarding this topic and share them with you. To start with, I really think that OSS benefits everyone, and here are some of the reasons why:

Open-Source Software community is incredibly helpful

Since there are a lot of OSS users on a daily basis, it makes asking for help incredibly easy!

The database is constantly being debugged and added to, and there’s always somebody out there (for real – check it out if you don’t believe me) who will help you out with a code you might have an issue with.

There are thousands of forums dedicated to OSS help, and everybody I ever came across was so kind so I never had an issue with asking for help.

Open-Source Software is transparent

That is to say, you get what you see. There are no limitations within the code (you can use it however you want to!), no hidden or locked codes that you will not be able to use or understand. With every OSS code comes information with the list of bugs it had and how they were de-bugged, so that you will have no problems using it.

Open-Source Software is cheaper

If you are concerned about your finances while coding, you can always rely on OSS as there are no license fees, and their codes always cost less than the closed-source codes (sometimes, they’re even free!)

Believe it or not, Open-Source Software is very secure

While it is common to think that if something is available for everyone, it’s immediately less secure (ahem… remember the internet in the early 2000s and the viruses we killed our PCs with…), it really is different with OSS. With such a large community, everything (literally) is being monitored and checked all the time, so you don’t have to worry about potential threats to your PC. With it, their codes are constantly being debugged and patched in no time, so you also don’t have to worry about using a broken code.

So what do you think about OSS now? Do you find it as beneficial as I do?