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Down With Oss. A look at open source software. WHAT IS OSS?. OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE, ALSO REFERRED TO AS OSS, IS FREE COMPUTER SOFTWARE. THE DIFFERENT SOFTWARE TYPES VARY FROM EVERYTHING IMAGINABLE. AN POPULAR EXAMPLE IS THE INTERNET BROWSER MOZILLA FIREFOX. WHERE CAN OSS BE FOUND?.
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Down With Oss A look at open source software
WHAT IS OSS? • OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE, ALSO REFERRED TO AS OSS, IS FREE COMPUTER SOFTWARE. THE DIFFERENT SOFTWARE TYPES VARY FROM EVERYTHING IMAGINABLE. AN POPULAR EXAMPLE IS THE INTERNET BROWSER MOZILLA FIREFOX.
WHERE CAN OSS BE FOUND? • WHILE OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE CAN BE FOUND IN MANY PLACES, A COMMON PLACE TO FIND IT IS THE SOURCEFORGE WEBSITE. EACH ITEM WILL MOST LIKELY HAVE ITS OWN LINK, AND DISCUSSION BOARDS ARE ALSO COMMON TO HELP ANSWER QUESTIONS.
WHAT’S THE POINT? • SOMETHING USERS ARE BOUND TO WONDER FROM TIME TO TIME IS, WHY WAS OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE EVER CREATED IN THE FIRST PLACE? IF IT DOES NOT COST ANYTHING, CREATORS CANNOT POSSIBLY MAKE A PROFIT. BUT THAT ASSUMPTION IS ACTUALLY INCORRECT. NOT ONLY CAN OSS ATTRACT INVESTORS, MUCH MONEY IS MADE FROM SELLING ADDITIONAL HARDWARE, ADD-ONS, AND SERVICE CONTRACTS. SO IN REALITY, QUITE A CHUNK OF CHANGE IS MADE FROM OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE.
THE PERKS OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE • DOES NOT COST TO USE • PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY OF EXTRA ADD-ONS • OPTIONS ARE UNLIMITED • USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT COMPLAINTS AND PROBLEMS • COMPANIES ARE LOYAL TO USERS
THE DOWNSIDE OF USING OSS • IS STILL BEING MODIFIED • PROGRAMS ARE NOT ALWAYS SUCCESSFUL • CAN BE HACKED MORE EASILY THAN CLOSED SOURCE SOFTWARE
sources • http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-04/bz_opensource • http://www.wikipedia.org