Open source software vs proprietary software

COMPUTER HOLIDAY HOMEWORK.
TOPIC: OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE V/S
PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE.
CREATOR: LAVAN SANTOSH.
CLASS: 9-D
ROLL NUMBER; 13

 1 History
 2 Definitions
 3 Non-software use
 3.1 Business models
 4 Widely used open source products
 5 Users should be treated as co-developers

 Open-source software (OSS) is
computer software that is available in
source code form: the source code and
certain other rights normally reserved
for copyright holders are provided
under an open-source license that
permits users to study, change,
improve and at times also to distribute
the software.
 Open source software is very often
developed in a public, collaborative
manner. Open-source software is the
most prominent example of open-source
development and often compared to
(technically defined)
user-generated content or (legally
defined) open content movements.
 A report by the Standish Group states
that adoption of open-source software

 The free software movement was launched in 1983. In
1998, a group of individuals advocated that the term
free software should be replaced by open source software
(OSS) as an expression which is less ambiguous and
more comfortable for the corporate world. [4] Software
developers may want to publish their software with an
open source license, so that anybody may also develop the
same software or understand its internal functioning.
With open source software, generally anyone is allowed
to create modifications of it, port it to new operating
systems and processor architectures, share it with others
or, in some cases, market it. Scholars Caisson and Ryan
have pointed out several policy-based reasons for
adoption of open source, in particular, the heightened
value proposition from open source (when compared to
most proprietary formats) in the following categories:
 Security

 Transparency
 Perpetuity
 Interoperability
 Localization.
 Particularly in the context of local governments
(who make software decisions), Caisson and Ryan
argue that "governments have an inherent
responsibility and fiduciary duty to taxpayers"
which includes the careful analysis of these factors
when deciding to purchase proprietary software or
implement an open-source opt

 The Open Source Initiative's definition is widely
recognized as the standard or de facto definition. [
citation needed ]

 The Open Source Initiative (OSI) was formed in
February 1998 by Raymond and Preens. With about 20
years of evidence from case histories of closed and open
development already provided by the Internet, the OSI
continued to present the 'open source' case to commercial
businesses. They sought to bring a higher profile to the
practical benefits of freely available source code, and
wanted to bring major software businesses and other
high-tech industries into open source. Preens adapted
the Debi an Free Software Guidelines to make
The Open Source Definition . [10]
 The Open Source Initiative wrote a document called The
Open Source Definition and uses it to determine whether
it considers a software license open source. The
definition was based on the Debi an Free Software
Guidelines, written and adapted primarily by Bruce
Preens. [11][12] Preens did not base his writing on the "four

 The principles of open source have been adapted for
many forms of user generated content and technology,
including open source hardware.
 Supporters of the open content movement advocate
some restrictions of use, requirements to share
changes, and attribution to other authors of the work.
 This “culture” or ideology takes the view that the
principles apply more generally to facilitate concurrent
input of different agendas, approaches and priorities,
in contrast with more centralized models of
development such as those typically used in commercial
companies.[16]
 Advocates of the open source principles often point to
Wikipedia as an example, but Wikipedia has in fact
often restricted certain types of use or user, and the
GFDL license it has historically used makes specific
requirements of all users, which technically violates the
open source principles.

 There are a number of commonly recognized barriers to the adoption
of open source software by enterprises. These barriers include the
perception that open source licenses are viral, lack of formal support
and training, the velocity of change, and a lack of a long term
roadmap. The majority of these barriers are risk-related. From the
other side, not all proprietary projects disclose exact future plans,
not all open source licenses are equally viral and many serious OSS
projects (especially operating systems) actually make money from
paid support and documentation.
 A commonly employed business strategy of commercial open-source
software firms is the dual-license Strategy, as demonstrated by
Ingres, MySQL, Alfresco, and others.

 Open source software (OSS) projects are built and
maintained by a network of volunteer programmers.
Prime examples of open source products are the
Apache HTTP Server, the e-commerce platform
ecommerce and the internet browser Mozilla Firefox.
One of the most successful open source products is
the GNU/Linux operating system, an open source
Unix-like operating system, and its derivative
Android, an operating system for mobile devices.
[17][18]
In some fields, open software is the norm, like
in voice over IP applications with Asterisk (PBX).

 The users are treated like co-developers and so
they should have access to the source code of the
software. Furthermore users are encouraged to
submit additions to the software, code fixes for the
software, bug reports, documentation etc. Having
more co-developers increases the rate at which the
software evolves. Linus's law states, "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. Note that some users have advanced
programming skills, and furthermore, each user's
machine provides an additional testing
environment. This new testing environment offers
that ability to find and fix a new bug.

Early releases:
 The first version of the software should be released as early as
possible so as to increase one's chances of finding co-developers
early.

Frequent integration:
 Code changes should be integrated (merged into a shared code base)
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.

Several versions:
 There should be at least two versions of the software. There should
be a buggier version with more features and a more 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.

High modularization:
 The general structure of the software should be modular allowing for parallel
development on independent components.

Dynamic decision making
structure:
 There is a need for a decision making structure, whether formal or informal, that
makes strategic decisions depending on changing user requirements and other
factors. Cf. Extreme programming.
 Data suggests, however, that OSS is not quite as democratic as the bazaar model
suggests. An analysis of five billion bytes of free/open source code by 31,999
developers shows that 74% of the code was written by the most active 10% of
authors. The average number of authors involved in a project was 5.1, with the
median at 2.

 A report by the Standish Group states that adoption of open-source software models
has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers.

Open source software vs proprietary software

 1 Software becoming proprietary
 2 Legal basis
 2.1 Limitations
 3 Exclusive rights
 3.1Redistribution
 3.2 Proprietary APIs
 3.3 Software limited to certain hardware configurations
 4 Similar terms
 5 Examples

 Proprietary software is computer software licensed [ citation needed ] under
exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. [ citation needed ] The licensee
is given the right to use the software under certain conditions,
while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further
distribution, or reverse engineering. [ citation needed ]
 Complementary terms include free software, [ citation needed ] licensed by
the owner under more permissive terms, and public domain software
, which is not subject to copyright and can be used for any purpose.
Proponents of free and open source software use proprietary or non-
free to describe software that is not free or open source. [1][2]
 In the software industry, commercial software refers to software
produced for sale, which is a related but distinct categorization.
 According to Eric S. Raymond, in the Jargon File, "In the language
of hackers and users" it is used pejoratively, with the meaning of
"inferior" and "a product not conforming to open-systems standards"

 Until the late 1960s computers—huge and
expensive mainframe machines in specially
air-conditioned computer rooms—were usually
supplied on a lease rather than purchase basis. [4][5]
Service and all software available were usually
supplied by manufacturers without separate charge
until 1969. Software source code was usually
provided. Users who developed software often made
it available, without charge. Customers who
purchased expensive mainframe hardware did not
pay separately for software.
 In 1969 IBM led an industry change by
starting to charge separately for (mainframe) software
and services, and ceasing to supply source code.

 Most software is covered by copyright which, along with
contract law, patents, and trade secrets, provides legal basis for
its owner to establish exclusive rights. [7]
 A software vendor delineates the specific terms of use in an
end-user license agreement (EULA). The user may agree to this
contract in writing, interactively, called click wrap licensing, or
by opening the box containing the software, called
shrink wrap licensing. License agreements are usually
not negotiable. [ citation needed ]
 Software patents grant exclusive rights to algorithms, software
features, or other patentable subject matter. Laws on software
patents vary by jurisdiction and are a matter of ongoing debate.
Vendors sometimes grant patent rights to the user in the license
agreement. [8] For example, the algorithm for creating, or
encoding, MP3s is patented; LAME is an MP3 encoder which is
open source but illegal to use without obtaining a license for the
algorithm it contains.
 Proprietary software vendors usually regard source code as a
trade secret. [9]
 Free software licenses and open-source licenses use the same legal
basis as proprietary software. [10] Free software companies and
projects are also joining into patent pools like the Patent Commons
and the Open Invention Network.

Limitations:
 License agreements do not override applicable copyright law or
contract law. Provisions that conflict may not be enforceable. [
citation needed ]

 Some vendors say that software licensing is not a sale, and that
limitations of copyright like the first-sale doctrine do not apply.
The EULA for Microsoft Windows states that the software is
licensed, not sold.

Exclusive rights:
 The owner of proprietary software exercises certain exclusive rights
over the software. The owner can restrict use, inspection of source
code, modification of source code, and redistribution.

 Vendors typically limit the number of computers on which software can be
used, and prohibit the user from installing the software on extra
computers. [ citation needed ] Restricted use is sometimes enforced through a
technical measure, such as product activation, a product key or serial
number, a hardware key, or copy protection.
 Vendors may also distribute versions that remove particular features, or
versions which allow only certain fields of endeavor, such as non-
commercial, educational, or non-profit use.
 Use restrictions vary by license:
 Windows Vista Starter is restricted to running a maximum of three
concurrent applications.
 The retail edition of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 is limited to
non-commercial use on up three devices in one household.
 Windows XP can be installed on one computer, and limits the number of
network file sharing connections to 10. [12] The Home Edition disables
features present in Windows XP Professional.
 Many Adobe licenses are limited to one user, but allow the user to install a
second copy on a home computer or laptop. [13]
 iWork '09, Apple's productivity suite, is available in a five-user family

 Proprietary software vendors can prohibit users from
sharing the software with others. Another unique
license is required for another party to use the
software.
 In the case of proprietary software with source code
available, the vendor may also prohibit customers
from distributing their modifications to the source
code.
 Shareware is closed-source software whose owner
encourages redistribution at no cost, but which the
user sometimes must pay to use after a trial period.
The fee usually allows use by a single user or
computer. In some cases, software features are
restricted during or after the trial period, a practice

 A proprietary application programming interface (API) is a
software library interface "specific to one device or, more likely to a
number of devices within a particular manufacturer's product
range." [23] The motivation for using a proprietary API can be
vendor lock-in or because standard APIs do not support the device's
functionality. [23]
 The European Commission, in its March 24, 2004 decision on
Microsoft's business practices, [24] quotes, in paragraph 463,
Microsoft general manager for C++ development Aaron Contorer as
stating in a February 21, 1997 internal Microsoft memo drafted for
Bill Gates:
 The Windows API is so broad, so deep, and so functional that most
ISVs would be crazy not to use it. And it is so deeply embedded in
the source code of many Windows apps that there is a huge
switching cost to using a different operating system instead.
 Early versions of the iPhone SDK were covered by a
non-disclosure agreement. The agreement forbade independent
developers from discussing the content of the interfaces. Apple
discontinued the NDA in October 2008.

 Proprietary software may also have licensing terms
that limit the usage of that software to a specific
set of hardware. Apple has such a licensing model
for Mac OS X, an operating system which is
limited to Apple hardware, both by licensing and
various design decisions. This licensing model has
been affirmed by the
United States Court of Appeals.

 The founder of free software movement, Richard Stallman,
sometimes uses the term "user-subjugating software" [40] to describe
proprietary software.
 Eben Moglen sometimes talks of "unfreeze software". [ citation needed ]
 The term "non-free" is often used by Debi an developers to
describe any software whose license does not comply with
Debi an Free Software Guidelines, and they use "proprietary
software" specifically for non-free software that provides no source
code. [ citation needed ]
 The Open Source Initiative uses the terms "proprietary software"
and "closed source software" interchangeably.

 Well known examples of proprietary software include
Microsoft Windows, Adobe Flash Player, PS3 OS, iTunes,
Adobe Photoshop, Google Earth, Mac OS X, Skype, WinRAR, and
some versions of Unix.
 Software distributions considered as proprietary may in fact
incorporate a "mixed source" model including both free and non-free
software in the same distribution. [43] Most if not all so-called
proprietary UNIX distributions are mixed source software, bundling
open source components like BIND, Send mail, X Window System,
DHCP, and others along with a purely proprietary kernel and system
utilities. [44][45]
 Some free software packages are also simultaneously available under
proprietary terms. Examples include MySQL, Send mail and ssh. The
original copyright holders for a work of free software, even copy left
free software, can use dual-licensing to allow themselves or others to
redistribute proprietary versions. Non-copy left free software (i.e.
software distributed under a permissive free software license or
released to the public domain) allows anyone to make proprietary
redistributions. [46][47] Free software that depends on proprietary
software is considered "trapped" by the Free Software Foundation.

Open source software vs proprietary software

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