[Turn] The five signs that open source forces are expanding

English Original: 5 things to Know about the Rise of Open Source, author Erin Richey

If you still feel that open source technology is not as reliable as proprietary software, or if it's not secure enough, I think it's time for you to start learning about the big changes in the digital revolution. In the past few years, technology giants such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft have embraced the open source philosophy and are reflected in their latest version of the software. Similarly, more companies are using proprietary software while also using open source solutions, after all, the diversity, innovation and collaboration within the open source community is lacking in the outside world.

　　If you are still hesitant about applying open source software to your business, I think you should be aware of the following.

1. Big companies also favor open source software

The definition of open source is very complex, especially when it comes to licensing, but anyway, the source code of the Open software is free to try and modify freely, which is an indisputable benefit. Perhaps you have the impression that open source is a time-wasting thing for a group of amateurs. Wait a minute, it seems that these open-source Daniel also love Open Source: The Emmys, the Grammy Foundation, NBC, CBS and Sony, they are using open source tools to develop the site.

So the question is, why are so many companies turning to open source? Metal Toad Media, president and founder of Joaquin Lippincott, said that companies are focused on technology innovation, reform the current system, choose Open Source This decision if you are standing in the economic position is very good to do. ”

Developing open source software can also reduce licensing costs, and open source projects often evolve faster than traditional software. Existing enterprise software fails to keep pace with open source because open source developers have more opportunities to focus on innovative information than to protect a static or outdated project, Lippencott said.

2. Large companies also active open source software

Some big technology companies are now increasingly active in open source, competing for open source developers. Google is the boss, in addition to mobile operating system Android is open source, and in the past six months open source security tools Santa, firing Range and Nogotofail.

At the same time, Microsoft announced the full open source of the. NET server stack, and in October last year, Facebook released osquery--allowing managers to use SQL to query computer status and operating system features. In 2013, Facebook also released an open-source PHP virtual machine called HipHop Vsan. Not only are commercial companies releasing open source code, but last November the NSA released Niagrafiles data management tools.

3. Professional developers to join the open source

Although there is now a consensus in the industry that proprietary software can attract more developers than open source software. But, said Brian Doll, vice president of GITHUB strategy at the open source hosting platform, says the opposite is true, open source software not only allows users to evaluate the code, but also evaluates the developer, when the user reads the code, discovers the problem, keeps up reporting, and understands the overall temperament of the community. You can also rely on peers to review their software. "

This relationship between project users and project contributors enables users and businesses to discover talented developers, and to participate in the development of tools to further retain these programming geniuses, both for business and developer individuals.

4. Open source is more secure than you think.

Although some of the most widely circulated Heartbleed vulnerabilities, such as OpenSSL, now linger in the minds of people, experts point out that even if open source software is not much more secure than proprietary software, it can be at least as safe. "Everyone understands the fact that ensuring software security is extremely difficult," says Brian Doll. For proprietary software, the user can only wait for the vendor to confirm, fix defects in the software, in this process the user is not autonomous ability. ”

Defects in open source software may be corrected by contributors, who are often users, who do not have to wait to approve or recommend such a process, and fix defects themselves. Bug fixes in popular open source software often rely on the "national System", as long as the community is satisfied with the patch, it will be released to users.

5. Start with a project that is beneficial to the company

For companies interested in exploring the use of open source software, Doll believes it is important to focus on the popular project before deciding where to start the project. Find out what projects help developers get inspired and lead the company from the industry's most relevant solutions. It's a good way for Doll to see the most popular open source projects through GitHub's Explore channel.

Doll points out that the growing trend to expand with open source software is imperative. As big companies invest in open source communities, the dominance of proprietary software is collapsing rapidly. "There are a lot of enterprises in the encouragement of staff in the invention of open source software to devote energy, it can be seen that enterprise open source is becoming normal, universal. ”

[Turn] The five signs that open source forces are expanding