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Essay On Open Source Software

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6 Benefits to Using Open Source Software as a Small Business

Small businesses have to be smart with their money. Your resources are limited and you can’t afford to spend a lot of time testing and trialling different technologies. However, surviving in the modern world without technology is nearly impossible. Therefore, small businesses must be able to latch on to any opportunity they find and make the most of software around them. For this, open source software is the best possible option.

But what is open source software and how can a small business benefit from it?

Open source software in a nutshell

According to the official definition by the Open Source Initiative, open source software is “computer software which is distributed …show more content…

2. Reliable and secure

Open source software also has a reputation of being secure and reliable. Because the source code is under constant public scrutiny, the quality of development remains high and problems in the code tend to get fixed fast. Thousands of developers test the code continuously, meaning that any performance or security related problems get resolved quickly.

3. Transparency

Related the above point is the transparency you can enjoy with open source software. Since the source code is available for anyone to see, you don’t have to worry about hidden features that might put your small business information at risk. If you use traditional software, you essentially need to trust the vendor’s word – you have no way of knowing what the code will actually do or the information it gathers. With the public source code, you are always able to check exactly what the software does and what this means to your data.

4. Flexible

Since you are free to change, tweak and use the open source software as you please, it gives a lot of flexibility to small businesses. You don’t need to worry about the vendor changing terms of use or adding new elements to the software that you don’t want to use. Furthermore, there is no fear of the vendor withdrawing support from the software and thus creating a problem for your small business. Your business is free to use the product and due to the near-zero initial set-up cost, you are flexible to change to another software if you want

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