Paper 1 - Open Source and Proprietary Software

What is open source software

software where the source code is made freely available so users may legally modify the source code

what are the advantages of open source software

It is usually free

Software can be adapted by users to fit their needs

Popular software is very reliable and secure - any problems are quickly solved by the community

A wide pool of collaborators can be more creative and innovative than the programmers of one company

What are the disadvantages of open source software

No warranties if something goes wrong

No customer support

There may be limited user documentation

Small projects may not get regular updates and so could be buggy or have unpatched security holes

What is proprietary software

Software where modifying and sharing is not permitted and only compiled software is released

what are the advantages of proprietary software

comes with warranties, documentation and customer support

should be well-tested and reliable as the companies reputation depends on this

Fixes and updates will come regularly

Usually cheaper for companies than developing their own custom-built software

what are the disadvantages of proprietary sofware

can be expensive

software may not exactly fit a users need and they cant do anything about it

software companies may not maintain older software after warranties expire so people may need to buy the latest product