Do you know WordPress? Building and maintaining a huge codebase like WordPress can be exhausting and expensive. It's because of open-source ideology we have 455 million websites powered by WordPress.
Open source is amazing, and there are many reasons why you might want to use it. Here are a few of them:
1. Saves Time
In open-source, all the solutions of all the minor problems which a developer faces while working on a large project have been solved already. Blogging platforms, content management systems, operating systems and text editors (programmers' love) are a few of the mainstream open-source solutions. This lets developers work on more important tasks, like those that are original to the organization & help it succeed.
2. Quality
Proprietary software could always have bugs. For example, it's been empirically proven that open source tends to produce higher quality, more reliable software. Proprietary alternatives will only last as long as the developers are working on them, and there's a lack of resiliency when you write closed source software. Finally, open-source software gets adapted to more than just one use case. This allows bugs to quickly be spotted and addressed, as opposed to only the issues predicted by QA teams.
3. Showcase Talent
Many new developers choose to work on unsolved problems and they find the opportunity to do that work. Open-source help you showcase your skills to the developer community.
4. Flexibility
Open Source developers can casually contribute from a distance. For this contribution, they don't have to worry about the environment in which the software is being developed or what challenges it faces - they may just want to gain a better understanding of how a particular set of projects work.
5. Free as in Speech not in Beer
Free and Open Source Software doesn't mean it's free of cost. It's the reference to the rights the software consumer receive.
“Free software” means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly, it means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.
Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer.” We sometimes call it “libre software,” borrowing the French or Spanish word for “free” as in freedom, to show we do not mean the software is gratis.
6. Trust
If you use closed-source software to compare DNA at a crime scene, the algorithm is protected by copyright (or patent) law & can't be examined like a medical expert. Open-source software will be vital for government agencies to use since private companies are starting to automate some of their key functions.
Finally
It's fun. There's a lot to be said about the advantages of using open-source software - here are a few examples. Whatever your reason for picking this, it's clear that it won't be going away any time soon.
Comment down your views and let me know if somewhere I've mistaken. Thank you