Open source can be considered as a boon for the developers today. There are times when the developers can’t do much without open source. Thanks to this modern day concept because of which today we have so many freely available high quality software such as Linux, React, Tensorflow, RedHat and  the list is seemingly endless.

Now one very common question might be lingering in your mind; well what is open source after all?

The term “open source” refers to a software development industry which has software which anyone can inspect, verify, modify and share the modified version. Open source is mainly about creating computer programs which can be collaborated, made transparent and follows a community oriented development approach. Open source is written by developers for other developers in various other communities. In order to protect the work done in the open source sector, certain licensing can be done which enables everyone to share, use and further modify the work based on your preferences.

Open source software is generally free software product which is available openly whenever the developers need free access to the code. In open source, we also have branch which includes paid source code, this branch is called proprietary software. The source code of proprietary software can only be inspected and altered by its owners. Adobe, Microsoft, Apple etc come under the proprietary software branch.

Pros Of Open Source:

Individual Benefits

It is not necessarily that the developers contributing to the open source domain are always driven by the nature of helping others. By working in the open source domain, every individual feels an immense level of self-gratification and accomplishment.

Recognition In The Open Source Community

It is a common sight to see UI/UX designers share their community experience on Behence and Dribble. Open source brings the developers a bright opportunity to share their work on an open platform. The open source enthusiast developers get their recognition from sharing their work on open source platforms such as GitHub and participating in some tech fests like HackOctoberfest and many more. Open source provides the developers with great well- developed infrastructure to run their projects while on the same hand also saves huge amounts of money.

Self- Advertising

If you are a freelancer who is actively looking for jobs, then open source is a boon for you. It actively helps in making the developers earn reputation in the field of open source thereby marketing their potential. Open source acts as an excellent marketing strategy for both developers and the developing agencies.

Adding A Measure of High Value

As a senior, if one motivates their employees to work under open source, it shows that the employee’s work value a lot. This adds confidence to the mind-sets of the employee thereby letting him feel valued.

Software Value

The quality of code available on open source is of high value as it is being constantly reviewed by the professionals. Well open source also saves a huge sum of money as companies don’t have to invest on a large number of developers who are skilled in specific areas. Rather than doing this, the developers depend on open source to help them with the skills.

Enhanced Data Security

Open source software is highly secure and reliable as the community constantly finds security flaws and reports or fixes them. Open source companies are also not allowed to misuse the data of the users thereby making open source a very reliable platform.

Customization

The best thing about open source is that developing such software also automatically consents to customizing them to bring out a much better product.  

Cons of Open Source:

Misunderstandings

Being an open source developer, one can receive requests 24/7. This might mean that the person would have to explain the working of the code and if not satisfactory then the code would be changed. Again, there is no guarantee that the new code may be of high value.

Can Be A Potential Threat To Basic Business Values

While opting for open source, one must be careful that they do not open source anything which is of core value to the business.

Open source helps one grow as a developer which in turn adds value to his reputation in the developer’s circle. With so many options in open source, one must choose to contribute wisely and help others in their software development journey.

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