biggest advantage of open source software?

phrakture · 2005-05-12 15:31:49

don't cheat... but here's the real survey:
http://www.computereconomics.com/article.cfm?id=1043

just seeing how we stack up...

Kern · 2005-05-12 16:16:35

biggest advantage... ? well, William Gates the Turd being outside the process probably bodes well for all concerned.

as in the main its driven by community not commerce, gives control to users, doesnt prevent em tinkering, i'd go for "freedom from vendor" thingy and customisation.

Long Live Open Source!

ozar · 2005-05-12 16:24:05

I voted for customization...

CyberTron · 2005-05-12 16:25:48

I believe that the biggest advantage is the ability to be able to change things...and correct them if necessary, and when they are free, they tend to develop faster..and we (ordinary people that uses the software) tends to be taken more seriously

phrakture · 2005-05-12 16:59:33

ozar wrote:

I voted for customization...

aye so did I... it's important to me (and probably alot of linux users) - I'm comparing standard users to businesses 8)

iBertus · 2005-05-12 17:11:37

I went with 'no/less vendor dependance' because I always disliked having to upgrade to another poor, but costly version of an M$ product just to be able and run some simple software package. With OSS I can always patch and compile if I need something new added and don't depend on some company to do it for me. I guess this could also fall into the 'customization' category.

Gullible Jones · 2005-05-12 20:11:28

Everything.

- Better security, because of faster responses to bug reports and more programmers being involved. (Witness Mozilla/Firefox - bugs are squashed very fast.)

- It's free.

- You can actually look at the source code.

- You can compile it with the options you want.

- No stupid EULAs (Microsoft), no stupid "You can't run this on other hardware) legal crap (Apple), etc.

- Finally, no stupid-ass secrecy in the the interest of bigger profits! This, IMHO, is probably the biggest advantage. If you make some great software, or a really useful new programming language, isn't letting other people see how it works the ethical thing to do? Doesn't that contribute more to society's technological progress than keeping whatever it is behind the closed doors of corporate policy?

Snowman · 2005-05-12 21:16:39

I voted for customization. Another advantage of open source is that it's more educational. By looking at the source code (of the kernel) you can learn how computers work (memory management, multi-tasking, etc.). That is very difficult (impossible?) to do with closed source OSes.

iBertus · 2005-05-12 21:44:33

Snowman wrote:

... By looking at the source code (of the kernel) you can learn how computers work (memory management, multi-tasking, etc.). That is very difficult (impossible?) to do with closed source OSes.

This is a very good point! I have learned lots about computers just by doing this. I started even back when I was using Windows 95 looking at code snipits and learning how to implement a feature myself.

rasat · 2005-05-13 02:42:46

I voted ability to customize software.
After my vote took a look at the actual survey and "no/less vendor dependence" is highest. Was wondering why. I conclude Arch is a developer oriented distro.

Meshuggin · 2005-05-13 02:55:26

Customize software it's the one

Snowman · 2005-05-13 06:19:08

rasat wrote:

I voted ability to customize software.
After my vote took a look at the actual survey and "no/less vendor dependence" is highest. Was wondering why. I conclude Arch is a developer oriented distro.

I think that customization and no vendor dependence are more or less the same. If you have access to the code, you don't depend on the vendor to add the features you want or to correct a bug.

shadowhand · 2005-05-13 07:09:24

I like Linux because it's free of spyware, I don't feel bad about using any software on it (no "borrowed" software on this computer ), and because I can customize everything just how I want it. I know what's running on my computer and how to change anything I want.

Mostly though, I like the principle of Linux. I think it's better than "the other OS" and I support what GNU/Linux/OSS stands for.

iphitus · 2005-05-13 08:06:16

for *me*

the greatest benefit is the configurability.

fetreney2000 · 2005-05-13 14:40:47

For me, because its free

droog · 2005-05-13 23:38:28

I almost voted for the ability to customize software because I spend alot of time doing so, but i think vendor independence is what has allowed linux to become what it is. I would rather use linux binaries than have linus write up an eula like microsofts and start selling the kernel source.

On second thougth im not too sure.

bosewicht · 2005-05-14 00:06:57

Cuz it allows me to break it and fix it...usually in that order, with a lot of profanity in between.

darkcoder · 2005-05-14 06:30:47

vote for customization, but it has them all.

murkus · 2005-05-14 09:11:06

I voted for no/less dependency. I'm a strong supporter of open information and file formats. Unfortunately I haven't got out of MS Office lock yet..

.murkus

Arch Linux

#1 2005-05-12 15:31:49

biggest advantage of open source software?

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