OPENSOURCE

garryjp

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what are the main advantages of using Open Source?Are there any disadvantages to using Open Source? If so, what are they?
 


Co$t! $$$$ Usually open source is free.

The down side to "free" is developers like to get paid. So there more apps and games
for Apple and Window$. If you like to play games, Linux has fewer options.
That's not to say there aren't of games. There are Hundreds of them. Just not as many
as Windows and Apple.

Usually open-source has no support. There are community web-sites like this,
but no real commercial "help-line" you can call if things don't work.
Some open-source software will let you buy support. ( Redhat, Elasticsearch, etc.. )
 
Besides cost, you own your computer, you can add/remove/swap any applications to make it just what you want/need, you have the choice in the way the desktop information is presented and what is presented, take a look at the various desktops displayed in this thread i'ts a good example of what you can do with, "out of the box", and modified desktops https://www.linux.org/threads/post-a-screenshot-of-your-desktop.124/
 
i'm talking here about code and opensource eg software for Linix os ; taking a Richard Stallman birds eye view opensource means the code is "put out there" on the basis that it is free to be looked at ,edited etc . The main practical point is that people who don't even know each other could say contribute to developing code.

One problem with coders is that they think everything is obvious to everybody, since they tend to look at their code from their eyes.,and probably due to that limited point of view there is next to know documentation .


In terms of support it depends on the developer, i've asked questions and had quite a few helpful replies. I haven't done much software myself but what I have done i always try to give copious amounts of documentation . The sites that host code don't make it that easy to contact the code writer unless they make a point of leaving some sort of crypted email contact .
 
Of course, if you're a programmer like I am, you get the ability to fix things in your software that annoy you.
 
With open source you can believe that people have review the code of the software that you use and does what it supposed to do and not something else, it demands faith and optimism.

Linux is as close to science as it is to religion because of the leap of faith that it demands

I can therefore state that Linux and open source in general it's a modern cybercult
 
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Others have already said somethings. I would add a couple that are important to me.
1. With open source people can see the code and know if it's corrupted. (with viruses, ETC.)
2. You can edit the code and change it if needed without violating laws.
 
With open source you can believe that people have review the code of the software that you use and does what it supposed to do and not something else, it demands faith and optimism.

Linux is as close to science as it is to religion because of the leap of faith that it demands

I can therefore state that Linux and open source in general it's a modern cybercult
well you can learn to code ,read the code and see if it does anything dodgy?
 
Others have already said somethings. I would add a couple that are important to me.
1. With open source people can see the code and know if it's corrupted. (with viruses, ETC.)
2. You can edit the code and change it if needed without violating laws.
2) probably covers most of what Richard Stallman wanted
 
I guess if I had to choose the downside it would be that not all Hardware Manufacturers buy into it and It's not always possible to run a machine without proprietary code.
 
well you can learn to code ,read the code and see if it does anything dodgy?
They say that even the most knowledgeable they can't review Linux individually, even them they have to have faith to each other, faith in the good intentions and the hard work of the other guy

Welcome to the Cult
 
They say that even the most knowledgeable they can't review Linux individually, even them they have to have faith to each other, faith in the good intentions and the hard work of the other guy

Welcome to the Cult
i can hardly understand my own code, remember what it does or what my intentions were at the time; never mind anything else . I will put that on my CV though, maybe in hobbies -" by the way apparently i belong to a cult" :^)
For anyone into python they can see if this makes any sense : https://notabug.org/captainsensible/fetchMirrorsGui its on Arch AUR
 
The concept that you can read and understand the code is still there, but the practicality of it is not.

The kernel alone is some million(s) of lines of code. You can't possibly read it, because the parts you read will have changed by the time you're done reading it.

The concept is still there and sound - and some, very few, applications do get professionally audited (GPG for example) but I think GnuPG's last audit was over a decade ago. You can also pay professionals to audit the code.
 

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