“10 things you should know about open source before you use it”

Last week we discussed and wrote about different kinds of contributions to open software and what types of contributions a beginner can make to open software. This week I’m going to speak about my knowledge of open source software before and after reading Jack Wallen’s article, “ 10 things you should know about open source before you use it “. I’ll discuss what I knew before this article, what I learned after reading the article and something that surprised me.

In my very first post I wrote about my lack of knowledge when it came to open source software. However, the one thing I knew about open source software was that the community welcomed sharing and contributions. After reading the article I’ve learned that open source software is not always free. I was under the impression that open source software meant the application would be free as well . The author goes on to explain that companies release a barebones version which is open source and free to the community . I enjoyed the authors reassurance that we didn’t have to be experts to use it and that we were most likely already using open source software.

Throughout the article I notice that the author refers to open source as a solution, so I was surprised to learn it was considered a pariah at some point in time. I understand that selling proprietary software was more lucrative and to make the source code open would pose a threat, or so it would seem.Today, many companies use open source as a first step to finding solutions.It makes me wonder why open source couldnt exist in the same marketplace as other types of software back then. Nevertheless, I’m grateful for where we are now when it comes to open source.It allows for the continued growth of developers along with aiding the general pubic.