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Monday, January 01, 2007

The Open-Source Solution

Why not use a communal approach to fix software?

By Larry Constantine

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Credit: Illustration by Marc Rosenthal

As you read this, countless programmers worldwide are collaborating to write, refine, and debug open-source software. Open-source pioneer Richard ­Stallman estimates that a million programmers now contribute to these efforts, in which the original written form of the code--the source--is made freely available for everyone to work on and worry over. Once a fringe phenomenon, the practice has grown into a major force in software development.

Open source is both a movement and a method. Partisan passions rage, but politics and polemics aside, the open strategy for constructing and maintaining programs may offer some distinct advantages over the closed-door development practices that dominate commercial software.

The most common argument for open-source development, and perhaps its greatest strength, is the sheer number of people who address a given problem. Every line of code, and its relationship to many others, is scrutinized again and again in an almost obsessive-compulsive competition to be the first to find a problem or its solution. In principle, and often in practice, this transparency can generate cleaner, more economical code with fewer bugs or vulnerabilities (for a discussion of the problems with mainstream software, see "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Meta"). There are, of course, no guarantees, but the reliability record of open-source software is excellent.

Collaboration can cut both ways, however. Because new functions may be proposed and appended by almost anyone at any time, open-source software can become every bit as feature­-rich as its commercial cousins, and thus equally vulnerable to the creeping excess that bedevils many mainstream products. As the code slowly grows in complexity as well as capability, usability suffers, not only because new functions add to the user interface but because such additions are ad hoc and implemented case by case.

Open source may be superior in producing robust, reliable code. It can hold its own in providing functionality. But its weakness remains usability, which increasingly is the battle­ground for competing programs. Finally, though, initiatives like the GNOME free desktop software for Unix have been closing the usability gap between open-source and commercial software. While open source may not solve the problem of bad software, it does offer many innovative possibilities. Most important, it demonstrates that when more people scrutinize code more closely, the effort can pay off in reliability. The jury is still out on usability.

Larry Constantine teaches and heads a software R&D lab at the University of Madeira, Portugal. He is also a usability expert and software design consultant.

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January/February 2007

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Comments

  • What do you mean by Open Source?
    r.galoppini on 01/09/2007 at 10:03 AM
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    1
    "Open source may be superior in producing robust, reliable code. It can hold its own in providing functionality. But its weakness remains usability, which increasingly is the battle­ground for competing programs."

    Saying open source is more reliable or its weakness is usability it doesn't mean anything to me: there are thousands of OS programs, some are cool, others sucks, speaking in general is really pointless.
    Rate this comment: 12345
    • Re: What do you mean by Open Source?
      vivekjuneja on 01/18/2007 at 12:20 AM
      Posts:
      1
      But the true metal of Open Source Software can only come up when there is mass acceptance from general public and that will be primarily because of Usability.. Linux and OSS should not be just for Geeks and Pros but for Moms and Pops too...
      And i believe true wisdom is in accepting the best of both the worlds, Closed Door and Open Door and implement the best solution in need.
      Rate this comment: 12345
  • Many Hands Make Light Work
    wizwom on 01/18/2007 at 3:00 AM
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    5/5
    In open source, a bug can be fixed by whoever has the inclination and skill; closed source, it can only be fixed by those who are working on the project at the company that creates the software.

    In open source, a feature can be added by anyone.

    In open source, a usability issue can be addressed by anyone.

    Now, most open source projects are mediated; that is, someone collects the updates and publishes a new "baseline" - and if your "fix" didn't make it in, you have to patch it, verify it, and resubmit your patch for the next release.  Politics can also enter in; an egotistical mediator can ruin a good idea.
    Rate this comment: 12345
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