Going Open Source? Evaluate its Pros n Cons

Open Source: Evaluate Pros n Cons, With rapidly changing technology and new advancements in computing, the way we develop and absorb it in our daily lives is undergoing a massive change. The role of systems and technologically driven applications is growing faster than ever and it will grab an even bigger pie in the times to come. Each of the technology cannot work on its own and is dependent on its building blocks of platforms and source code. Such a platform prepares the very foundation here and gives the technology a final face.

Earlier, having a closed platform and the source code used to be a tightly guarded secret in order to maintain exclusivity. But in recent times, making the source code open has become the norm. When someone says open-source, it basically refers to the accessibility of the source code in a public space and is available for modification, customization, or enhancement by anyone. Most of us will never see the source code in an application. It is the code that makes the computer program or application work and behaves in the way code wants to. The application can be enriched by adding features or modifications to the source code

Open Source Platforms

Evaluate Pros n Cons

With the mass availability of such open-sourced platforms, its pros and cons can be evaluated, and accordingly, a programmer may choose to go with the relevant one as per the final requirement. Some of the points in favor of having open-source platforms are:

1. Low Cost: Most of the open-source platforms do not have any licensing requirements. The total cost of ownership (TCO) becomes zero with it.
2. No License Cost: These platform does not cost any money for its license. It provides a substantial cost saving for the out-of-the-box platform.
3. Ease of Customization: Having an open-source code makes the behavior of the platform known to the programmer. The exact requirement can be derived by doing suitable customization to the source code and deriving the desired behavior. It also gets additional features to the vanilla product enriching the functionalities. Evaluate Pros n Cons
4. Security features: most of the open-source platforms provide regular security upgrades. Such upgrades can be used to plug in security gaps and making a robust platform.

There are few limitations too in having an open-source platform. Some of it is:

1. Susceptibility to Security threats: the open-source platforms can be downloaded and misused by hackers or malicious software which can read the source code to identify its gaps and use such gaps to disrupt the applications and procure unauthorized access.
2. Lack of Support: Such open-source platforms do not provide any major technical support system. The user is required to pay for any technical support requirements.
3. Upgrade Issues: the open-source platform might not release adequate upgrades or security features. Alternatively, an altogether new version can be released which may not have any use for your application.

A good amount of financial and technical analysis is a must before looking at various options of having open or closed systems and justify the Facebook business requirement.