IMT4130 : Cybercrime : Information Technology Arena

Open Source Software

Open source software is emerging as the most sensational discovery in the Information Technology arena and the internet has modified itself into a remarkable place where there is constant debate as to which is better-open source software or proprietary software (Pereira et al., 2018). With the huge success of open source software, it is safe to conclude that it has changed the dimension of how internet is perceived, thereby making its journey into mainstream software arena. Open Source software can be defined as a method of distribution of software which is permitted under a licensing agreement (Söderberg at al., 2015). Under the open source agreement, the source code is allowed to be shared as well as viewed. This viewing or modification is done by both users as well as organizations. Some rights and modifications are also part of the open source software framework, like free distribution rights, any access to the source code mentioned, the right to distribute as well as the permission to modify (Zhu at al., 2014). Though there exists a right to modify, the right is limited to that and there is no permission to modify the software against any person, field or specific group (Rost et al., 2016).  

Proprietary Software

The proprietary software is not similar to open source software as the former is used for the purpose of machine programming which is only allowed under the supervision of a trusted copyright holder wherein advantages can be reaped (Silva et al., 2014). This software is used for the purpose of utilizing the already existing equipment which is created by any individual for repute or skill into a completely new equipment so that brand new programming can be made. Proprietary software works on the principle of secrecy, that is, the source code is kept a mystery. There is a level of exclusivity that is maintained in case of proprietary software (Cadariu et al., 2015).

Comparison

Though there are many opinions as to which is better between the two options, it is better to make a cogent choice by evaluating the pros and cons of the two software types. Both the types have their advantages and disadvantages, as follows:

1. Cost: Open Source Software is free and Proprietary software is expensive (Tervonen, 2014).
2. Innovation: There is larger scope for innovation in case of open source in contrast to proprietary software where the clients do not have the permission to alter or adjust the source code (Osmani et al., 2017).
3. Usability:The usability in case of open source is not friendly and does not cater to the amateurs, whereas the proprietary caters to the viewers who are much more focused and their manuals are supplied for the clients (Pinto et al., 2018). 
4. Availability: Open Source is freely available but in case of proprietary software, there is a need for updating both the software as well as the hardware (Nguyen, 2017).

Conclusion:

By evaluating the above comparisons and by checking the business trend, it is clear to state that many organizations have started to use open source software and therefore it can be concluded that open source software is gaining an edge over proprietary software.

Reference:

Cadariu, M., Bouwers, E., Visser, J., & van Deursen, A. (2015, March). Tracking known security vulnerabilities in proprietary software systems. In Software Analysis, Evolution and Reengineering (SANER), 2015 IEEE 22nd International Conference on (pp. 516-519). IEEE.

Nguyen-Duc, A. (2017). The impact of software complexity on cost and quality-A comparative analysis between Open source and proprietary software. arXiv preprint arXiv:1712.00675.

Osmani, F., Hettiwatte, M., Kshirsagar, S., Senadheera, S., & Zhang, H. C. (2017). Development of an environmental Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) protocol for flexible pavements that integrates life-cycle components to a proprietary software. In Pavement Life-Cycle Assessment (pp. 41-50). CRC Press.

Pereira, F., Lou, B., Pritchett, B., Ritter, S., Gershman, S., Kanwisher, N., ... & Sudarsky, S. (2018). open-source software. Nature, 9, 963.

Pinto, G., Steinmacher, I., Dias, L. F., & Gerosa, M. (2018). On the challenges of open-sourcing proprietary software projects. Empirical Software Engineering, 1-27.

Röst, H. L., Sachsenberg, T., Aiche, S., Bielow, C., Weisser, H., Aicheler, F., ... & Liang, X. (2016). OpenMS: a flexible open-source software platform for mass spectrometry data analysis. Nature methods, 13(9), 741.

Silva, V., Crowley, H., Pagani, M., Monelli, D., & Pinho, R. (2014). Development of the OpenQuake engine, the Global Earthquake Model’s open-source software for seismic risk assessment. Natural Hazards, 72(3), 1409-1427.

Söderberg, J. (2015). Hacking capitalism: The free and open source software movement. Routledge.

Tervonen, T. (2014). JSMAA: open source software for SMAA computations. International Journal of Systems Science, 45(1), 69-81.

Zhu, Y., Qiu, P., & Ji, Y. (2014). TCGA-assembler: open-source software for retrieving and processing TCGA data. Nature methods, 11(6), 599.