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You probably have read the term “open source” from an online article or been told by one of your tech savvy friend. You may have nodded your head saying: I know what it is – source codes of a software are available for the public to work on; or at least pretended that you understood. But in reality, what it implies can be a lot more than what you’ve expected.

For Providers
As the source code is open for development, it usually lowers the development costs, since there could be a larger group of contributors other than just your team, once it’s released to the public for “comment and suggestions”. More importantly it increases the visibility of the software since most of the time open source software is available at no cost to the end users.

On the other hand, the business model of closed source software/proprietary software has been greatly impacted by this concept. Instead of having to pay a large amount of money in licensing or purchasing software, users are having other options, which enforces pressure for them to compete not only on the quality, but also on the price to retain its customer base.

Common example, without Google Docs and Open Office, Microsoft would be the only providers of office applications. You cannot complaint about its prices, functionalities or whatsoever, you have no choice. Even though Microsoft Office still cannot be replaced by open source software, they have certainly brought pressure to Microsoft in improving its products and launching new features (e.x. office web apps).

For Business Users
There are more and more open source software available, with rapid development and frequent updates. Businesses can carefully select the ones to suit their needs and save a lot money for their daily operations. It can even serve as a platform for businesses to provide services for consumers.

For example, software such as Drupal could be utilized to provide web content management for businesses with some tech knowledge and background, or it could be used as a tool for businesses to provide web content management system services for its customers.

Another characteristics of open source is its flexibility. The availability of source codes makes it easier for users to alter, improve and distribute the product – more opportunities for customization to fit your own needs.

This is make it possible for all smartphone manufacturers to tailor Android as their mobile platform for its customers.

However, there could still be costs attached to using open source software for businesses. Since there is a lack of support without an official technical support department, users have to find the answers on their own by relying on the members of the community. In order to avoid those intangible costs of time and effort, businesses have to pay the provider for support, installation and sometimes customization if needed, unless its a technology based business (then there must be someone who can perform the tasks or you should just try to seek better employees…).

Thus, with all the attractive benefits open source software could provide, depending on the level of technology expertise within the business, it should carefully evaluate the needs and long-term benefits before making the switch.

For Consumers
I would say we are getting the most benefits out of them. The demand of functionalities is usually at minimal compare to commercial users, so those popular open source software can satisfy most of our needs. With all the add-ons available, we are able to get the most out of it with some basic knowledge of technology. And, it’s all free, legitimately.

However, the concept is still relatively new, users may have concerns regarding its compatibility with existing formats. And the problem does exist, although most open source software have given attention to address this issue. Think about how many times you went on a site with Chrome or Firefox and it says: please use IE only…

The choice is yours. But, who doesn’t like more options?

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