| Major corporate houses choose open source | | | | The nature of shared development of software |
| partly due to the economic gains and mainly | | | | development appeals to the human nature to |
| due to the control the open source system | | | | have control over their destiny. This is true |
| gives to their hands. | | | | even when they can get customized 'solutions' |
| | | | by proprietary software vendors. The future |
| The quest for control is a serious problem in | | | | is in open source, but it is premature to |
| open source arena. The problem sometimes | | | | make predictions as to when Linux or an open |
| seems trivial, but is really a loss of | | | | source OS cross runs on 50% of the computers |
| manpower by the professionals developing | | | | of the world. |
| programs in open source environment. The | | | | |
| problem is seeking too much of control leads | | | | Incidentally Microsoft Corporation's Shared |
| developers develop their own solutions for | | | | Source Program is an effort by the corporate |
| specific issues. | | | | giant to somehow win the trust of open source |
| | | | community. Though Microsoft allows a peek |
| Reinventing the wheel is quite a common | | | | into the source code, redistribution rights |
| problem in open source arena. Instead of | | | | are neither granted nor expected. Only an |
| using an already popular script, developers | | | | illusion of free handling of source code, |
| tend to write there own scripts for specific | | | | shared source program lacks the democratic |
| tasks. There may be hundreds of scripts with | | | | nature of all open source initiatives. |
| similar functions. There are however | | | | |
| instances when a developer has to come up | | | | Back to open source initiatives - open source |
| with something new when the existing system | | | | initiatives find it quite difficult to get |
| doesn't give the expected results. Developing | | | | professionally talented developers to the |
| a code from scratch will be faster than | | | | fold, especially in the beginning stages. |
| modifying existing program. | | | | This is true for almost all open source |
| | | | initiative. The situation reverses when there |
| Proprietary software, in this sense is quite | | | | are enough people in the fold and the project |
| advantageous here. The developers working | | | | takes momentum at SourceForge.net. |
| with proprietary software hardly ever goes to | | | | |
| coming up with their own script as a solution | | | | There is one last thought for major |
| for immediate problems at hand. Then again, | | | | corporations that have become so stepping on |
| proprietary software developers too invent | | | | open source shoulders - spare some of your |
| their own wheels, but the goal is to avoid | | | | resources to enrich free software and open |
| nasty situations like legal problems. | | | | source software community. |
| | | | |