Open-source software has been gaining increased popularity over the recent years and has become a standard of software development. In contrast to proprietary software, which can be altered only by its owners, open-source programs can be accessed by anyone, which provides multiple benefits for businesses and individual programmers. Its’ popularity has led to the emergence of an “open-source culture” based on the principles of sharing, collaboration, and transparency enjoyed by an increasing number of companies all over the world. However, the development of open-source software is also connected with a number of challenges both for the developers and users, the most important of which are the funding problem, anonymity, cybersecurity, and legal risks.
Open-source software is a free software product that is distributed with its source code available for modification. This means that it usually includes a license for programmers to change the code in any way they want, modify it, improve functions, fix bugs, or adapt it to suit their own needs (Suchy et al. para. 3). Open-source software is generally developed and maintained by a network of volunteer programmers guided by the values of collaboration and transparency.
Open-source software has gained popularity in recent years due to the multiple benefits it provides to businesses and individual programmers. It is considered more secure because the code is accessible to anyone and is continuously analyzed by a large community. Open-source products are not dependent on the company that originally created them and can be modified by any user. They use open standards accessible to everyone and do not have the problem of incompatible formats (Suchy et al. para. 6). Lastly, the companies that use open-source software do not have to think about licensing and developing anti-piracy measures, which provides benefits for both small and large businesses.
However, the development of open-source products is also connected with a number of challenges. The most important of them is the funding problem. Big projects need programmers, and when a project has a particularly large scope, volunteers are not sufficient, and the company needs to hire full-time developers. As open-source software is distributed freely, the companies have to search for alternative funding models. The strategy that is most often used by popular open-source projects is to create a non-profit organization, which collects donations and/or sells products related to the project. The money it receives is then distributed to critical team members. For example, The Linux Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium, employs many people across a variety of projects they deem important. These projects include Kubernetes used to power web infrastructure and Let’s Encrypt, a free TLS/SSL certificate authority (Aas). Another example is the Blender Foundation, an independent company that develops an open-source 3D content-creation program, which supports 24 employees by collecting donations and selling assets and tutorials (“Blender Foundation” para. 12). Overall, most open-source companies rely on donations to sustain and grow their projects.
This approach is associated with a number of disadvantages. Donations rely on the goodwill of users and can only be a sustainable source of funding for popular projects. Smaller projects receive a limited amount of money and generally do not have the resources to develop additional services to generate profits (Gewirtz para. 7). For example, the creator of the Bevy game engine decided to start working on the project full-time, supporting themselves through a combination of personal savings and donations (Bevy). When the project was at an early phase, the founders received limited money from donations and had trouble supporting further development. Other funding methods, such as receiving money from customizing software for individual customers’ needs and selling licenses to proprietary add-ons, are also often unavailable for smaller enterprises.
Another problem connected with the development of open-source software is the anonymity of developers. Open-source software does not have a single creator and can be modified by anyone, resulting in the original developers remaining unknown. Programmers make projects which are used by many businesses and individuals but do not receive recognition. People use their products without being aware of whose idea it initially was. For example, Jonathan Ong contributed over 429 packages to NPM, the most popular package manager for Javascript. He received no compensation for this and instead maintains these packages when he has time off from his regular job. Many people using Javascript do not know him but most likely use the code written by him. The same applies to Bitcoin developers with very few exceptions (Macellari and Mazzanti para. 1). The anonymity of developers prevents them from receiving recognition for their work and gaining adequate financial support.
A number of risks also exist for companies using open-source software. The most important of them are cybersecurity and legal risks. Due to a large number of collaborators, if an issue of vulnerability is detected in the code, it most often can be quickly debugged. However, “for organizations that are slow to incorporate fixes into the affected applications, they can become the target for hackers to exploit those vulnerabilities before the organization can act” (Suchy et al. para 14). Legal issues are primarily connected to licenses that accompany the open-source software’s usage and distribution. Breach of these licenses carries with it legal risks for the user, the developer, and the company, which vary by country (Suchy et al. para. 16). Companies need to be careful when using open-source software, which provides difficulties for small businesses which do not have sufficient resources to ensure an adequate level of security and legal support.
A number of recommendations can be provided for companies that use open-source software. First, they need to establish review teams that control the use of open-source products and associated licenses (Suchy et al. para. 22). Second, they need to train their clients and employees so that they are aware of the risks associated with using open-source products. The third recommendation is to request that suppliers using this type of software indemnify the customer in cases if they are alleged to be in non-compliance with the license terms (Suchy et al. para. 24). With the usage of open-source products being connected with increased risks, businesses need to use it with caution.
Overall, open-source software offers multiple benefits for all members of the information technology industry. It is cost-efficient, flexible, easily available, secure, and easy to use. The development of the open-source culture based on collaboration, sharing, and transparency has resulted in the creation of multiple constantly updated and openly accessed products. However, these developments are also connected with a number of challenges, including financing, anonymity, cybersecurity, and legal issues. The teams developing open-source products often have difficulties receiving financial support and have to use elaborate funding strategies to maintain their own staff. The issue of anonymity prevents individual programmers from being recognized for their contributions. The companies which use open-source software have to pay increased attention to cybersecurity and legal risks and take relevant measures to protect themselves and their customers. With the open-source culture being generally beneficial, it can be concluded that it requires increased awareness and business agility from both users and developers to be used advantageously.
Works Cited
Aas, John. “What It Costs to Run Let’s Encrypt.” Let’s Encrypt, 2016, Web.
Bevy. Web.
“Blender Foundation.” Blender, 2019, Web.
Gewirtz, David. “Nothing Good is Free: How Linux and Open Source Companies Make Money.” ZD Net, 2016, Web.
Macellari, Simona, and Giulio Mazzanti. “Notes of Developers Anonymity.” Medium, 2018, Web.
Suchy, Donna, et al. “Open Source Software and the Collaborative Culture.” American Bar, 2020, Web.