University of Otago Open Source Software for Easier Software Development Essay

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Computer Science

University of Otago

Description

Open source technology is a rapidly growing phenomenon. Many programmers and users are passionate about open source software and believe that all software programs (and source code) should be freely available. For this assignment, address the following items:

Compare and contrast the practicality for all software to be distributed in this manner.

Discuss the effects on commercial software and commercial developers if all software were to become open source.

Include your thoughts about whether or not innovation would be enhanced or restricted if there was no financial incentive to create software.

Requirements:

Your paper should be 4 pages in length, not including the title and reference pages.

You must include a minimum of two peer-reviewed, scholarly sources.

Paper must follow APA style guidelines, as appropriate.

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Open Source Software Open source technology is a rapidly growing phenomenon. Many programmers and users are passionate about open source software and believe that all software programs (and source code) should be freely available. For this assignment, address the following items: • • • • • • Compare and contrast the practicality for all software to be distributed in this manner. Discuss the effects on commercial software and commercial developers if all software were to become open source. Include your thoughts about whether or not innovation would be enhanced or restricted if there was no financial incentive to create software. Requirements: Your paper should be 4 pages in length, not including the title and reference pages. You must include a minimum of two peer-reviewed, scholarly sources. Paper must follow APA style guidelines, as appropriate.
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Explanation & Answer

Attached.

Running Head: OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

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Open Source Software
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Institution Affiliation
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OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
Open Source Software
Introduction
Open-source software implies that the software can be modified and shared due to its

design and public accessibility. The term can be traced back to software development to imply a
specific model for computer program creation. Therefore, open software refers to software with
source code that any individual can modify, inspect, and enhance. “Source Code" is thus the
software section that most computer users don't get to see. Computer programmers can
manipulate code to alter how a program, piece of software, or application works. Progressively,
programmers with access to the source code of computer programs can ensure improvement by
putting in additional features or fixing parts that don’t work effectively.
Comparison and Contrast of the Practicality for all Software to be Open-Sourced
Certain software is characterized by software that only the company, the person, or the
team is tasked with maintenance of exclusive control over. This is the only party that can do
modification of the same. This kind of software can be described as a “closed source” or
“propriety” software. In this regard, only the software's original authors are legally permitted to
inspect, copy, and modify the software (Hickish et al., 2016). Again, to use propriety software,
computer users must agree, in most cases, by signing a license displayed the first day the
software is run. They commit that they will not alter the software without the author's express
permission. Examples of propriety software, in this case, are Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft
Office.
On the other hand, Open source software is characterized by some difference. The
authors of open-source software make the source code of the same available to other parties
interested in looking at the code, copying it, getting to learn from it, changing it, and even
sharing it. In this regard, well-known examples of applications in this category include the GNU

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OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

Image Manipulation Program and LibreOffice (Suh & Yılmaz, 2019). Like in propriety software,
users are needed to accept the terms of the license when they agree to use open-source software.
However, the legal terms in both the propriety and open source software dramatically differ.
Licenses that are aligned to open-source software affect how users may use, modify,
study, and distribute the software. Thus, this type of license permits the computer user to employ
the use of the software for any purpose they so wish. Besides, some open-source licenses like the
“copyleft” licenses outline that any individual who releases an open-source program that is
modified must release alongside it the source code for that modified program. Further, at times,
they make it clear that any party that alters or shares the program with others is obligated to share
the program's source code free of charge or without charging any license fee (O'Brien et al.,
2017). Therefore, the open software license by design ensures collaboration as well as sharing
since they give users permission to subject the source codes to modification and implement those
alterations into their projects. Further, they ensure computer programmers' encouragement to
have access to, look into, and modify the open-source software when they like, provided they
allow others to do the same thing when the programs are shared.
Effects on Commercial Software and Commercial Developers if all Software were to
Become Open Source
If all software were to become open source, then commercial software and commercial
software developers would most likely be on the losing end. First, unlike commercial software,
open-source software provides users with more control. In this regard, commercial software and
commercial developers who be compelled to permit users to examine the code and implement
their changes different from the source code. Making commercial software open-source would
permit to change the codes to fit their own needs (O'Brien et al., 2017). Besides, the decision

OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

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would be disadvantageous to commercial developers because, from their original programs,
individuals who are not programmers can change part of the software to fit their needs without
factoring in what the programmer might have thought about.
If commercial software were to become open source software, training programm...


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I was having a hard time with this subject, and this was a great help.

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