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Open Source / Proprietary Software

Open Source / Proprietary Software. Which should you be using and why?. What is the difference?. Open Source: Software whose source code is freely available on the Internet . Proprietary : Software whose source code is usually a closely guarded secret. Free Software?:

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Open Source / Proprietary Software

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  1. Open Source / Proprietary Software Which should you be using and why?

  2. What is the difference? • Open Source: Software whose source code is freely available on the Internet. • Proprietary: Software whose source code is usually a closely guarded secret. • Free Software?: Open Source is usually free, but it is not always.

  3. For the Open Source movement, whilst free software is ideal, it is not the ultimate goal. • However, for the Free Software movement, non-free software is not an option. • As Richard Stallman puts it: "Open source is a development methodology; free software is a social movement.”

  4. Open Source / Proprietary Software Which should you be using and why?

  5. Open Source pros: • It’s free (or almost free). • It’s built by a passionate communities of developers. • You can “look under the hood”. • There’s no vendor lock-in. • The rate of innovation is often faster. • You have optimization and flexibility. So why would anyone choose to work with anything else?

  6. Open Source Cons: • Proprietary products tend to be easier to use for unskilled operators. • Proprietary tends to be the De Facto Standard e.g. Most people use Microsoft Word and Excel. • Proprietary Software offers better support; more often than not Open source offers little or no support at all. • No guarantee that a project will continue as long as you need it. • If an open source project is small, there is the danger that the person behind it may lose interest. If that happens, it may not be easy to find another open source developer to step in. • More choices can lead to fragmentation of community support. • Inconsistent updates with varying interfaces.

  7. Gimp vs. Photoshop GIMP PROS: • It is free. • It runs on all platforms and qualities of computer (min 128MB ram compared to Photoshop's 512MB) • A wide range of plugins (which are also free). • Supports pretty much any file format you can think of. GIMP CONS • Does not support saving 16 bit files. • Cannot utilize multiple processors or graphics processors. • ONLY useful for Web/Screen editing as there is no CMYK support.

  8. BOTTOM LINE “Free” can be expensive. Spending lots of money will not necessarily solve your problems. At the end of the day, the question to ask yourself is not Open Source vs. Proprietary OR Free vs. Price, but: • What problem do I have? • What solution / tool solves it best? • What kind of support will I need over the long haul and is it readily available? • What are the risks?

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