Andrew Limo
25 August 2007
column
Nairobi — The software battle that has been raging for a while among online communities and computer users in general on whether to adopt open source or closed source software is unlikely to end soon.
It is a war mainly between the proponents of proprietary software like Microsoft Word and the free and open-source software (FOSS) which offer similar products like openoffice.org.
Basically, software is the programme that runs computers and the internet. Before the creation of tools like Netscape, Explorer or Mozilla, information on the web was just text. We cannot look back and imagine that it was a tedious and boring experience to browse the internet without pictures and audio or games. The magic tools called software changed it all.
Open source refers to software which the developers allow other experts to access the programming language or source code to improve on it or customise for their own use. (Hardware refers to the machines and components). The Open Source world boasts an array of software with fancy (if not weird) names like Apache, Mozilla Firefox, Hot Potatoes, Moodle, Red Hat and openSUSE. Their use, however, is quite ordinary. Moodle, for example, is a great learning management tool while Hot Potatoes is used to create interactive multiple choice questions and answers.
The antonym for Open Source is proprietary software which is a different set of application. The source code is an industrial secret that people have to buy to get the licence to use it. Microsoft Word and Photoshop are examples of such "closed source" products.
The proponents of Open Source say it is all free to download although "free" does not mean not to be bought. In reality, people still pay for the high-end enterprise products such as Red Hat Linux or for training and support.
Free Software Foundation (FSF), was founded in 1983 by Mr Richard Stallman as a counter reaction to high costs of commercial software. By 1980s programmers had developed a culture of sharing code.
People will always question the worth and security of a product that is said to be free. The deal will be good and so they will be thinking twice. The idea that a group of nerds would burn midnight oil to develop a product for free and allow people to customise to suit their needs does not easily resonate with many.
In a world of dwindling philanthropy, who will believe Open Source tycoon and first African to the space, Mark Shuttleworth, when he says his operating system Ubuntu is free for all? Ubuntu, a term that loosely means "humanity to others" in Zulu popularises itself with the motto "Linux for human beings". With the freely downloadable software, one can surf the web, read e-mail, and create documents and spreadsheets.
FOSS relies on the voluntary efforts of programmers to develop it, a practice critics say is bound to compromise on the security of the product. There is no much trust on what too many eyes see. The Open Source proponents are quick to counter. They say what is done behind closed doors, "security through obscurity", is bound to have flaws that a few developers may not discover or even if they did, would not admit. The thinking obviously borrows from the success of the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, where information is freely posted and modified by many "cooks" from all corners of the world. Don't we always refer to Wikis as though they were the gospel truth of the digital world?
An internet survey by Net Applications, (http://marketshare.hitslink.com) reports that in less than three years, the open source Web Browser Mozilla Firefox expanded its market share from two per cent in 2004 to 15 per cent in 2007.
The US Department of Defence is increasing using FOSS applications like Apache, Linux, Send Mail, GCC, Perl and BSD operating systems for infrastructure support, research and development (http://developer.skolelinux.no/rapporter/dodfoss.pdf).
In Tanzania, the University of Dar es Salaam has come up with their own localisation on Linux operating system in Swahili which they call "kilinux". It is the same trend here in Kenya: almost all universities have found ways to domesticate Open Source for their day-to-day operations such as student registration, room booking and the management of the vehicles.
Responding to the growth of FOSS, proprietary software companies now give offers for large user organisations. They claim they have better after-sale support and their products are user-friendly. Open Source diehards say people must break free from the shackles of proprietary systems and expensive upgrades. The war goes on.
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