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what is the Future of Open source Softwares?

Recently Microsoft called OSS (open source software) the ‘industry-accepted model for cross-company collaboration’. Experts believe that open source is likely the future for continued improved innovation.  Open source software is software for which the source code is viewable or changeable by the public and otherwise open. Microsoft’s shift from initially opposing open source software back since 2001 to actively promoting the model shows just where the software industry is going, and that open source will be a huge part of it. 

Improving and Collaborating 

Open source software allows programmers to improve for the software by finding and fixing errors in the code, updating the software to work with new technology, and creating new features. In previous week, Microsoft’s blog post touched on four important lessons that open source can teach us this year, including how different perspectives make better software and finding the perfect balance between policy and autonomy. 

They have strongly believed that most of the hard problems for today will take a team and the whole industry to solve. Which means we all need to be trustworthy and (corporately) self-aware participants in open source, wrote Sarah Novotny, Microsoft’s open-source lead for the Azure Office of the chief technology officer, in a blog post. Novotny added that the companies are working together more frequently or the amount of cross-industry work we are able to accomplish is accelerating’.

But we are very much already in an open-source world, since many of the things we use daily are run by open-source programs such as Android, Linux operating systems, Wordpress’ content management system or even Twitter. Aside from the more popular platforms or programs we use for each and every day, there’s practically an open-source program for everything from video editing to writing music.  Since the global pandemic has forced most of the workforce into the remote-first culture, moving to open source to communicate and collaborate only makes sense, even as we enter a post-pandemic world. (Open source) gives businesses peace of mind because they have guaranteed access of their own data regardless of what happens with the source of the software," Nousiainen said. "It gives businesses agility without having to invest a lot of time."

Reasons due to which open source software trumps over Proprietary

1. Open source software provides a level for customization to the end user which proprietary software just can’t provide. The customization can be done by the user itself and use someone else’s technique from the community. Proprietary software allows for customization which is allowed by the parent corporation of the software.
2. Open source software is main goal for helping the world grow just because they enjoy helping others and not for money, while the counterparts also make the huge impact on the world there is usually a price associated with it.
3. Open source software is free to use or modify till you adhere to the terms stated in the licence that the software uses. Sometimes you might have to subscribe to the software as if you your re using a service by giving a small monthly fee but paying from your pocket nonetheless. While in the case of proprietary software first of all there is usually a hefty fee for buying the software and then you can’t make any changes to the software as you aren’t provided with the source code. There is no crime in asking money for a product one created but this behavior can sometimes lead to exploitation of the consumers especially in the case of a monopoly. This not only applies to software industry but to every market in general.
4. Open source software doesn’t between a newbie and an experienced developer and one can contribute to the project as per the respective knowledge levels, while in proprietary software mostly experienced developers are hired and made to work on the software so as to comply with the standards.
5. Open source software has a backing for unexpected number of contributors which help it to grow both in terms of functionality and speed while also providing security to the users which is as per the standards the world follows. While so many developers work on a project there’s very little to no chance of a flaw. Proprietary software developers have a designated team which works on the software. While the latter isn’t bad at all and in some ways more organized than Open source software they lack the element of creator freedom.

Open Source Software has on the world and its possible future

Open Source Software has changed for the software industry for good. There is now very less software that exploits or monopolizes its users as there is an open source program alternative which provides all of the same functionality and without any cost to the user. As more and more users and developers become aware for the different Open source software available, it might have a significant impact for the earth itself as more and more developers have a hand in developing something big it can change our future for good.

In currently Open source software isn’t popular among masses because it has zero advertising associated with it, and hence for the common user has no idea that a free alternative to expensive software exists.

It is also great for developers to develop their skills personally

• For learn the latest techniques and efficient ways to solve the problem from very experienced developers also working on the project.
• If you develop and release your own Open source software it might catch the eye of experts and they might be interested in contributing to your code, this helps in increasing the popularity of your software and make you well known between different developers.
• It will make you a part of something big, a community with same goals and mindset as yours at-least in the coding aspect of it all.

Open source software in the future will also have a great edge on its counterparts as the user base increases such as:

• Increased the number of users and developers means increased number of features and security measures
• Frequent updates can be rolled out as there are a ton of developers working on the software.
• Number of bugs in the software can be reduced significantly.
• The software can be always on top of its security.
• Everyone will be getting this for free of cost.