Software Freedom: Encouraging the contribution and use of Free and Open Source Software
As the software development landscape continues to evolve, many projects are being built as free and open-source software (FOSS) as against proprietary software.
Proprietary software is software owned by an individual/company and it is protected by copyright laws and must be licensed before it can be used. FOSS, on the other hand, is copyright-free software that allows users and programmers to edit, modify, inspect, or reuse its source code.
The FOSS activity came as a revolution against the monopoly and unfair profits that proprietary software companies were reaping from, which top developers of the time didn’t believe were world-class. So, progressive developers came together to author better pieces of that software that everyone can see and contribute to, in the open. Now, experts like Johan Scheepers, Senior Manager Solution Architects: Sub-Saharan Africa Red Hat, say that the future of software lies in open source.
The most popular reason people advocate for FOSS is that it enables open sharing, collaboration, and co-creation of new solutions to old problems. It also focuses on delivering value for the end-user, as it typically goes through continuous experimentation. Hence, such software is considered to have fewer flaws and better quality than commercially developed ones.
Currently, the bulk of the internet is built on open source technologies such as the Linux operating system and Apache Web server application. Some businesses are also using it to develop new innovative services while government institutions are using it to lower spending on proprietary software. Hence, FOSS benefits everyone, not just the software community.
Some argue that open-source projects and activities are not all rosy despite these benefits. For instance, in his article 12 challenges for open source projects, David Hurley raises concerns over increased risk in open-source projects due to the number of contributors. At the same time, an article by Tom Smith also pointed out that open-source programs usually have limited license use. However, these issues have not lowered the efforts on building and contributing to more open-source projects.
Today, Software Freedom Day is celebrated as an annual event to increase awareness and use of FOSS. This is essentially needed because successful open-source projects are a result of contributions from many people, of all skill types and levels.
Why you should contribute to FOSS projects
Here are some reasons to participate and contribute to FOSS projects.
- You gain a deeper knowledge of the software through discussions with project members and active contributions to the code base. Such participation will help you attain higher expertise in the subject and product.
- It is also an opportunity to build and improve your skills as open-source projects expose you to new languages, libraries, and developer tools as you work with others virtually and across the world.
- It is also a great way to showcase skills and interests that get the attention of recruiters in the community. Scheffler disclosed in this article that there is nothing more convincing than a strong list of open source contributions when judging the expertise of talented people.
11 Popular Software We Use Today That Run on Open-Source
- Android: is an open-source operating system for mobile devices. It has a completely customizable source code that is publicly available to everyone.
- WordPress: is a popular platform that is used to build websites and blogs. It is free, customizable, has mobile-ready designs and currently accounts for about 20% of the top 10 million websites on the internet.
- Python: is a computer programming language that is used to build websites. It is built on open source and is free to use and distribute, even for commercial purposes.
- My SQL: is an open-source relational database management system that is used for storing, handling and manipulating data in an organized way.
- Ruby on Rails: This open-source application provides developers with the framework to add structure to the code being written. It is usually combined with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to create web applications that execute on web servers.
- Mozilla Firefox: is a free and open-source web browser that serves as an alternative to the Google browser.
- VLC Media Player: is an open-source multimedia player, that supports a range of media formats and streaming protocols. It is free to use and available for all kinds of devices.
- Inkscape: is a free, open-source design application that can be used by anyone to create vector images. It runs on various devices and has several powerful features attractive to designers.
- Audacity: is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio application. It is free to install and use for any personal, commercial, or educational purposes.
- Thunderbird: is an email manager from Thunderbird that allows you to manage multiple accounts with applications like auto-responders, signatures, and large file attachments among other features.
- Notepad++: You can use this text editor instead of the Windows notepad software. It is better because it helps to keep track of your ideas in numbered lines and immediately saves all changes.
This list is non-exhaustive as open-source is getting more attention because it is much more than an activity. It’s a change in mindset. Hence, a day is set aside to celebrate Software Freedom to make individuals, businesses, and sectors use and engage FOSS for a better world with better software.
