A reality in which one could buy a computer that is $100 cheaper is not very far off, with the daily improvements of open source software.

One can already download countless commercial-quality programs for free which could replace the bundled software you pay for with the computer. A world of freely downloading, installing, and sharing computer programs and their code has an ever-increasing number of users worldwide.

Free and open source software, as this type of software is called, now includes every type of software, ranging from the operating system, the core of computer operation, to instant messaging and games. This software is extremely portable, working on all types of computers running Windows, Macintosh Operating System, and computers with the open source operating systems such as Linux and BSD installed.

Open source software is already receiving wide use on computers running Windows. A popular example of an open source Internet Browser is Mozilla Firefox. A number of widely used open source office programs exist, such as Open Office, which can completely replace Microsoft’s expensive alternative.

One clear advantage of using open source software over commercial is that it is free and downloadable from the Internet, while commercial programs generally require payment to use. Even free alternatives to commercial software using the terms “freeware” and “shareware” are not the same as open source software because their licenses are generally extremely restrictive in comparison.

Jan Helbing, a Paly student who switched to an Open Source Word Processor named OpenOffice, said when interviewed that his main reason for using the software is that it is a free replacement for Microsoft Works, a limited word processing software that comes bundled with many computers. Since nobody at school used Works, he had to find an alternative software program, which is the reason that he obtained OpenOffice.

Although he appreciates the features of the free office suite, Helbing claimed that if given a free copy of Microsoft Word, he would rather use Word because he has greater familiarity with it over the free replacement. This shows that for Open Source software to become more mainstream, it still has room for improvement, and may need to become more recognized to be more heavily considered as a replacement for commercial products.

The difference between this free open source software and “freeware” or “shareware” programs that can be downloaded from the Internet is that with open source software, you can edit, copy and use it at your own will without relying on the group who made it to give permission. “Freeware” and “shareware” programs both do not supply source code, or the instructions and “blue print” that form a binary program, and cannot be redistributed. In essence, this makes these programs free only in terms of money rather than speech or use. In contrast, open source programs have a less restrictive license and are required to give source code.

Another major advantage is that open source software tends to be much more secure than any other type of free or commercial software. The main reason is that any person who uses it can theoretically check the software, and if there is a problem, send a “patch”, or fix, to the maintainer or author of the program, who can then test and release the newer version with the fixed bug.

The term, “open source”, refers to the way the software is developed and packaged. In most commercial software, such as Microsoft Windows, the source code, or the instructions and “blue print” that form a binary program, is usually kept secret and hidden from the customers under an extremely restrictive “End User License Agreement”. If the software is innovative and advanced, this practice forces competition or even unrelated programs to rewrite the entire algorithm once again for each different company who wants to use it. A large amount of development time is spent rewriting a simple instruction to avoid copyright or patent infringements.

Software developers and programmers appreciate open source software because they are able to use it however they want. Developers can modify the software, look at some ideas, reuse code, and use the programs for free.

On the other hand, software that is developed as open source allows developers to use anyone else’s libraries and source code at the cost of sharing any code based on the borrowed code.

In this manner, the open source system is not completely without restrictions. The open source license uses a form of copyright called “copyleft”. On the site of the FSF (the Free Software Foundation located at http://www.fsf.org/), Richard Stallman, the leader of the open source movement at the FSF writes, “Copyleft says that anyone who redistributes the software, with or without changes, must pass along the freedom to further copy and change it. Copyleft guarantees that every user has freedom.”

Open source software has an interesting economic model that would not work for any product aside from information and software. Software is a unique trade because no physical material is actually produced, and therefore allows people to work solely for the good of others without the need to generate profit.

“Copyleft” does not mean that no profit can be earned from it; it only is an idea about sharing code. Although much software is free, numerous companies sell the software packaged with a technical support agreement. Others receive donations and sell CDs for users with slow Internet connections. Some open source projects only release core software source code freely, but do not release the data required to run the code. In this way, companies can charge for open source software while allowing the community to benefit from having open code.

Open source software tends to be very different from other commercial or free software because the intent is to help the end users and other developers rather than to help the companies or creators earn profit. In general, most open source software was written solely for the use of the person writing it.

Open source has an extremely bright future as more users and developers take interest in it. Software is improving daily, and some of the free software is equivalent or exceeding the quality of programs valued at hundreds of dollars and can be legally acquired. When computer users think about buying software, they should look for an equivalent open source product.