4.7. Open Source Software

The last section discussed closed source software where the source code is not available to others to use or copy. However, there are many who feel that software should not be restricted in this way. Just as with those early hobbyists in the 1970s, they feel that innovation and progress can be made much more rapidly if they share what has been learned. In the 1990s, with Internet access connecting more people together, the open-source movement gained steam.

Open-source software makes the source code available for anyone to copy and use. For most people having access to the source code of a program does little good since it is challenging to modify existing programming code. However, open-source software is also available in a compiled format that can be downloaded and installed. The open-source movement has led to the development of some of the most used software in the world such as the Firefox browser, the Linux operating system, and the Apache web server.

Many businesses are wary of open-source software precisely because the code is available for anyone to see. They feel that this increases the risk of an attack. Others counter that this openness actually decreases the risk because the code is exposed to thousands of programmers who can incorporate code changes to quickly patch vulnerabilities. There are many arguments on both sides of the open-source model debate and can be found below.

“Chapter 3: Software” from Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) by David Bourgeois is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted