Open source by definition is: "A method and philosophy for software licensing and distribution designed to encourage use and improvement of software written by volunteers by ensuring that anyone can copy the source code and modify it freely" (Howe, 1999). Essentially open source is basically sharing, downloading, and using programs to be rewritten by the user to accommodate their needs. Open source is similar to free software but isn't that by there is often a catch of having to download a bundle of software. Culturally though up until recent years it was frowned because you're not "paying" and for software companies to go open source was revolutionary. It was trying to balance the software that should be open source with the one of purchasing. Different companies began turning to open source because as the internet began to take off it was in their best interest. Many companies while they did not want to admit it used that sort of technology supposedly to have an edge over the competitor but in reality the competitor was using the same technology. When they began open source they didn't loose the money they thought they would because while it is essentially cost free to the user downloading it, the user and the group of programmers downloading the software would customize it and rewrite to the their own. In doing so, they began to find the problems, fix things themselves, and at the same time spreading the technology and program much quicker than a purchased one. Also the companies weren't loosing the money they would have made if purchased because many large corporations that used their programs ended up being donors, not to mention those companies that went open source could save money by using the competitor's open source software.
The great thing about open source is that for the users it gives them more power by creating a shift from the corporations to the users. The users get to re-write the program to customize it and in doing so the corporation as a trade off gets much needed feedback. Originally the program distributor would have the programmers write programs but not with the user in mind. They would write the programs to perform only certain features and with open source the user instead could change it to their liking and how it would benefit them best.
Culturally this is a phenomenon because the technology of the internet was spreading but without open source certain parts of the world were still isolated. The purchased programs were mainly being isolated to one set area instead of branching out. With open source the users spread out the program much faster by sharing and distributing the code they used. This in turn caused many competitors wanting to open source in order to keep up with the competition. The downside though as in the case of China is that with all the competitors and changes while open source and those programs would be around as they have been for many years-if they chose the wrong program to use instead of opening themselves to the world through networking they would instead be isolating further than they already were.
As far as people like you and me where we use open source programs in our everyday lives it is good for us. The competition is there to show the programs which expose us to even more programs to better customize to our lives. The only foreseeable downside to see to it are those of two: with downloading open source software it could infringe on your privacy as you often have to download other software that may or may not be spy ware but also you have to often register yourself under the website and get licenses. The other downside is that the technology is always changing and the programs that are here today will most likely be here tomorrow but could go under, become obsolete, and trying to keep up could become overwhelming. But even with those downsides, there is always an upside in that you can use several programs to write your own and essentially through open source you have the shell of a program to write your own
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/opensource/news/myths_1199.html
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_10/jesiek/
http://www.computerworld.com/developmenttopics/development/story/0,10801,93109,00.html
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