Open source

What is open source ?
Open source is a methodology or approach towards the design and development of software with the intention of giving the user access to the source code, i.e. if you use open source software, not only will you able to use it, you will also be able to see how it works, debug it, modify it and redistribute it. Actually the term open source has been center stage of a David vs Goliath fight in the software community. Be it windows vs other operating system, or Internet Explore vs Mozilla. Open source has been the rallying point of the so called 'resistance' to the proprietary regime. To elaborate and make the difference more clear, imaging the simplest entry level C++ programing, the one that says "hello world". If the program was proprietary (non open source), you would merely have access to the EXE file that upon execution would give a window with "hello world" written in it. However if the program is open source, you will also be given access to the code that the EXE file is compiled from, namely.
#include
void main ()
{
count<<"hello world";
}
Hence not only you will be able to use this program for the pleasure of hearing a "hello world" from your computer, you will be able to modify this code to allow it to say more than just that.This example of course was overly simplest. Even if the program had been proprietary, anyone could recreate it making it immaterial whether it was open source or not. However in this era of programming that runs tens of thousand of lines of code, with complex algorithms and databases forming an integral part of the system, it is impossible to recreate the code from observing how a program functions. The open source Initiative, an organization committed to promoting open source users the open source definition in order to determine if a software is open source or not. This definition, among other things specifies requirements of the license such as preventing discrimination against fields of endeavor. One must not forget that there is a core difference between open source and free software. While they both embody the same core idea, the former still allows the commercial utilization of the code with the motive of profit. Many companies such as Red Hat gain significant revenues from sale, distribution, maintenance and consultancy services provided on open source software.