Open-source software is a type of computer software that allows the users, under the GNU General Public License Law, to change and modify the source code of the program. The modified software can be redistributed free or with a fee.

Open-source software often has 2 version of the software: a buggier but more feature version and a stable version with fewer features. The buggy version (also called the development version) is for users who want the immediate use of the latest features, and are willing to accept the risk of using code that is not yet thoroughly tested. The users can then act as co-developers, reporting bugs and providing bug fixes. The stable version offers the users fewer bugs and fewer features.

Advantages of Open-Source Software

1.Users can be treated as co-developers. Users can report back to the company about any bugs, code fixes, documentation, modification, errors, etc. With many users to test the open-source product it means that the software can evolve faster than most other softwares. “Linus’s law” states that, “Given enough eyeballs all bugs are shallow.” This means that if many users view the source code they will eventually find all bugs and suggest how to fix them.

2.Frequent Updates on the Software. New code should be integrated as often as possible so as to avoid the overhead of fixing a large number of bugs at the end of the

project life cycle. Some Open Source projects have nightly builds where integration is done automatically on a daily basis.

Disadvantages of Open-Source Software

1.The Open-Source Software Licence Law and the General Public License Law changes so often that it is often difficult to understand the legal implications of the differences between licenses. The General Public License Law is currently up to it’s 3^rd version (GPLv3).

The Difference of Open-Source Software and Others

Linux and Microsoft are both Operating Systems

They both use common softwares but under different names (Microsoft Word/ Word)

Linux has less bugs that Microsoft because it is an open-source software and Microsoft is source-available softwares, which means that the source can be read but it cannot be redistruibuted because of copyright law.

GIMPshop and Photoshop are both softwares that can modify pictures.

They both can be used on Windows OS

But GIMPshop is more inventitive than Photoshop because of its open-source software status.

Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer are both softwares that allow the user to access the internet.

But Mozilla Firefox can download faster than IE because it is an open-source software.