Why is open source good for you?

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Open source is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify and enhance. A reason why software engineering has grown so much is open source. Because this type of sofware lets other people  improve and utilize code that can be useful for themselves and for the owner of that software. That leads us to a circle of improvement and innovation in this discipline.

There are also another reasons why people like open source software, such as:

  • Control: you can examine the code and modify it as much as you want to.
  • Training: it helps people to become better programmers. The accessibility of this type of software let programmers to study and learn to make better software.
  • Security: Because anyone can view and modify open source software, then it is fixed, updated and upgraded more quickly than propietary software.

“Open source vaules and principles apply to the world beyond software. We like to think of open source as not only a way to develop and license computer software, but also an attitude” (From opensource.com)

The relevance of open source is to share. Sharing is what helping this industry to become better everyday.

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Dennis Ritchie

En este último mes hemos escuchado hablar de Dennis Ritchie, por aniversario de su fallecimiento. En este blog les quiero hablar de todo lo que hizo este hombre por la computación y el porqué se ha ganado nuestro respeto, debido a que gracias a él se tuvo un increíble desarrollo tecnológico.

Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie nació el 9 de septiembre de 1941 en Nueva York, estudió física en Harvard. Mientras estudiaba en Harvard, consiguió un trabajo en Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), en esos años la carrera de informática todavía no existía, entonces los laboratorios buscaban a alguien que les ayudara a desarrollar sus proyectos. Ritchie se interesó en el proyecto, el cual consistía en desarrollar sistemas operativos y software.

empezó a trabajar en un sistema operativo para ordenadores portátiles, pero en ese momento las computadoras ocupaban cuartos completos, eran muy grandes. Aunque ya se había empezado con el desarrollo de computadoras de escritorio. Se quería desarrollar un sistema que pudiera ser utilizado por miles de personas al mismo tiempo y ejecutarse las 24 horas del día, sin embargo en ese entonces sonaba algo muy complicado, la programación era de eso era un reto.

Cuando se terminó el proyecto Dennis se graduó de física, gracias a este se dio cuenta que quería dedicarse a desarrollar en vez de la física. Entró a trabajar a Bell Labs en 1967, participó en muchos avances técnicos. Sin embargo Ritchie quería centrarse en proyectos específicos en los que pudiera estar rodeado de gente con experiencia e ideas, para enfocarse en hacer mejores proyectos y aprender más de esta profesión.

Comenzó a trabajar con Kenneth Thompson, en 1966 en  Bell Labs, se dieron cuenta que las  minicomputer se habían vuelto muy populares, ellos querían lograr una interacción más sencilla entre varios ordenadores. La solución a este

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Open Software

Open source refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and made freely available (Rouse, 2009).

The principles of these idea are written in “The Open Source Definition”, which is a document published by the Open Source Initiative, to determine whether a software license can be labeled with the open-source certification mark.[1] The definition was based on the Debian Free Software Guidelines, written and adapted primarily by Bruce Perens with input from Eric S. Raymond and others (Wikipedia, n.d.).

Linux is the best-known and most-used open source operating system. As an operating system, Linux is software that sits underneath all of the other software on a computer, receiving requests from those programs and relaying these requests to the computer’s hardware (opensource.com, n.d.).

The Linux Foundation

References

OpenSource.com (n.d.). What is Linux. opensource.com. Retrieved from: https://opensource.com/resources/what-is-linux

Rouse, M. (May 2009). Open Source. Tech Target. Retrieved from: http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/definition/open-source

Wikipedia (n.d.). The Open Source Definition. Wikipedia. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Open_Source_Definition


What is open source software??

Alguna vez escuchas el término de “Open source”, en este blog daré una breve explicación de lo que es.

El término de open source se refiere a algo que las personas pueden modificar y adaptar de acuerdo a sus necesidades; debido a que éste es accesible. Open source es un código  que tiene un recurso para que las personas lo puedan modificar, cualquier persona lo puede hacer. Con un código abierto el usuario lo puede manipular y cambiar cada pieza específica  del software.

En los sistemas en los que el sistema no es de código abierto el usuario no puede modificarlo, tal es el caso de Windows, este sistema operativo ya viene establecido, se pueden hacer ciertas modificaciones mínimas, pero no es tan accesible como un open source. Sólo las compañías que crean este tipo de software pueden modificar, alterar y cambiarlo.

El código abierto es totalmente diferente, los creadores del software dejan un recurso para que el usuario pueda aprender de este, instalarlo, modificarlo y adaptarlo.

Las licencia de open source dan derecho a los usuarios de usar el software para el propósito que ellos deseen. Sin embargo las licencias establecen que cualquier persona que modifica o comparte un programa, también debe de compartir el código fuente, sin cobrar por hacerlo.

Las personas prefieren usar open source porque:

Control: se prefiere porque se tiene mayor control del sistema, debido a que puedes hacer los ajustes que tú quieras.

Training: a muchas personas les gusta porque con esto están practicando constantemente y se vuelven mejores programadores.

Security: se considera que el código abierto es más seguro que un software no libre, porque cuando se lanza el programa las personas detectan cualquier falla en el sistema y comparten cómo corregirlo. Y este proceso es más rápido en comparación cuando el sistema

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Open Source Software

Wouldn’t it be beautiful if all the best things in the world were free? Free as in freedom. Well, even that that’s not true, I still have good news: some things ARE free. And one of them is Open Source Software (OSS).

OSS is probably one of the best things that has happened to the software universe. Why? First, because it’s free. Second, because it’s good. And third, because it evolves and gets better. But what exactly is it? OSS consists in software which is, essentially, open to anyone to use, distribute and modify. This means EVERYONE can use it. Additonally, OSS is usually developed publicly, by many people (this is explained better in my following article about The Cathedral and the Bazaar).

OSS started with the Open Source Iniciative in 1998 by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond. As the founding code, Netscape Communicator was released free. The OSI was inspired on the free software movement, commanded by Richard Stallman, the founder of GNU Project.

Now: I won’t talk about the benefits of developing OSS as a public project (that goes into another article), but I will explain why is OSS important in today’s world. Here are some examples of important software that is OSS:

  • Linux: if you think in OSS, you think in Linux. One of the biggest projects, Linux is a kernel used in various operative systems. Today, most of the servers run ina Linux-based ambient.
  • OpenPGP: online privacy is crucial today, since almost everyone can get on the internet today. Criptography makes this work. OpenPGP (Pretty Good Key) is a program for end-to-end encryption, based on private and public keys.
  • MySQL: data is in this world. If we cannot store it, we cannot analyze it.
  • GNU: oh boy, where to start with this one. Linux is built upon GNU.
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Open Source SW

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It´s time to talk a little about Open Source Software.

If you can remember, we published a post about Software Licenses. This are to ensure software are going to be well distributed/implemented/modified by all of the user that sees it.

Recently I want to comment I assist to a litlle course of Software optimization for Machine learning, this means having all the posible resources of the machine (Yes Hardware level) really beaing used for your algorithm, code or software in general.

Only as a little intro, we used AVX3 and AVX2 to compare time execution and time optimization in code. All of these in Linux using gcc.

I am telling this little history because the topic of today is Open Source Software.

Acording to https://opensource.com/

Open source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance.

“Source code” is the part of software that most computer users don’t ever see; it’s the code computer programmers can manipulate to change how a piece of software—a “program” or “application”—works. Programmers who have access to a computer program’s source code can improve that program by adding features to it or fixing parts that don’t always work correctly.

Yes, If you remember i.e. GNU GPL this source code can be implemented, changed and distributed free. This means if you want to modify a part of the source code of a GNU GPL and sell it to another you can´t.

Something to keep on mind:

Given a large enough beta-tester and co-developer base, almost every problem will be characterized quickly and the fix obvious to someone.

Or, less formally, “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” I dub this: “Linus’s Law”.

from: https://blogs.microsoft.com/microsoftsecure/2006/06/07/linuss-law-aka-many-eyes-make-all-bugs-shallow/

Some of the benefits of using an Open Source software are:

Control: This means,

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When life closes a door, it opens a source

 

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Some software has source code that only the person, team, or organization who created it—and maintains exclusive control over it—can modify. People call this kind of software “proprietary” or “closed source” software. Only the original authors of proprietary software can legally copy, inspect, and alter that software.

Open source software is different. Its authors make its source code available to others who would like to view that code, copy it, learn from it, alter it, or share it.  Open source technology and open source thinking both benefit programmers and non-programmers.

People prefer open source software to proprietary software for a number of reasons, including:

Control.  They can examine the code to make sure it’s not doing anything they don’t want it to do, and they can change parts of it they don’t like.

Training. Students can easily study it as they learn to make better software. Students can also share their work with others, inviting comment and critique, as they develop their skills.

Security. Because so many programmers can work on a piece of open source software without asking for permission from original authors, they can fix, update, and upgrade open source software more quickly than they can proprietary software.

Stability.  Because programmers publicly distribute the source code for open source software, it won’t disappear if their original creators stop working on them.

Open source can not only be a way to develop and license computer software, but also an attitude. Approaching all aspects of life “the open source way” means expressing a willingness to share, collaborating with others in ways that are transparent, embracing failure as a means of improving, and expecting—even encouraging—everyone else to do the same.

RESOURCES: OpenSource.com