About open source software

open source software
To our knowledge, Recruity is the only mature and complete open source recruitment software in the world. The system is developed and compiled after an extensive search for existing solutions. What is 'open source' and then why is it so important?

Wikipedia, the interactive encyclopedia on the Internet, says the following.

"Open-source software (OSS) is computer software for which the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that meets the Open Source Definition or that is in the public domain. This permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified forms. It is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner."

"A report by Standish Group states that adoption of open-source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers."

Please also visit the Open Source Initiative for a formal definition of the model.

Business model
Wikipedia: "There are a number of commonly recognized barriers to the adoption of open source software by enterprises. These barriers include the perception that open source licenses are viral, lack of formal support and training, the velocity of change, and a lack of a long term roadmap. The majority of these barriers are risk-related. From the other side, not all proprietary projects disclose exact future plans, not all open source licenses are equally viral and many serious OSS projects (especially operating systems) actually make money from paid support and documentation.

A commonly employed Business Strategy of Commercial Open Source Software Firms is the Dual-License Strategy, as demonstrated by Ingres, MySQL, Alfresco, and others."

It requires little imagination to think of open source software offers advantages over 'closed' software from a proprietary manufacturer.
  • Price The software is freely available without licensing fees.
  • Technology The software is maintained and developed by hundreds of thousands of software programmers all over the world. The best solutions that all these programmers submit is integrated into the final product.
  • Knowledge All of the contributing programmers have knowledge of the product and can assist you in implementing and applying the software in your organisation.
  • EfficientBecause only the best solutions are included in the final product, the software is very efficient in the use of resources as hardware. Moreover, the software is very user friendly because many people should work with it.
  • Communication It is very easy to use forums to communicate the merits of open source software. A question on a forum often produces very useful answers within minutes.
  • Independence By using open source software you are no longer dependent on a single software supplier. For major suppliers this dependency often results in ascending license fees. With smaller suppliers dependency is undesirable because of the financial stability of such a company.
More information
Additional information about open source software is to be found on the websites of major companies like IBM and CIO Magazine. Or read the original topic on open source software at Wikipedia.