Skip to main content
What is Free Open Source Software (FOSS)?

What is Free Open Source Software (FOSS)?

I have decided to implement the open source concept in many areas of software.

What is Free Open Source Software (FOSS)?

Open Source means that the sources of the software are freely available (open) and can be modified if necessary. The dependency on a specific software company is eliminated. Of course, specific changes (if necessary...) require specialists, but finding them is much easier than, for example, getting Microsoft to make an adjustment in an Office program.

FOSS is free. A very related term is "Free Software". The differences are more philosophical in nature – see Wikipedia (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Source)

Available Programs

Many common programs are already available for free as Open Source:

  • LibreOffice with Writer (Word), Calc (Excel), Impress (PowerPoint), Database (Base) and more - de.libreoffice.org

  • Firefox (Browser)

  • Thunderbird (Email, Contacts, Calendar)

  • Gimp (PhotoShop) etc.

 

Support

Support for FOSS is naturally much less organized, but anyone who has ever tried to get support from Microsoft for a specific problem knows that it is available but can be difficult to obtain and sometimes costly. Support in companies is therefore usually provided by IT service providers or the internal IT department.

 

Private users, on the other hand, rely on the WWW, and there are support forums for all programs where users help each other. The FOSS community is much more helpful in this area, mainly because FOSS is not commercialized. The programmers have developed their software with a lot of passion and are proud of their product, so fixing bugs is also a matter of honor.

Security

Security is often cited as an argument against FOSS. It is criticized that the open architecture and the availability of the source code promote misuse. I believe that the opposite is true. System vulnerabilities are detected much faster and can even be fixed by the skilled user themselves – the source code can theoretically be viewed, reviewed, controlled, and corrected by the entire FOSS community.

Benefits of New Versions

One aspect of software development is the addition of new functions and the expansion of usability. However, many software developers no longer know how to further develop their product. I believe that many products, especially in the office area, are fully developed; there are no new "features" that are needed.

However, this also means that no new versions can be sold..... - without new functions, no new version that can be marketed. This problem was evident with Windows Vista, which was not accepted by the market – the fear of change was too great and the benefit too small. Especially with new operating systems, the benefit for the average user is hard to justify. Therefore, marketing slogans like "Even more secure", "Even easier" etc. are often used.

 

The question of the benefit to the user should always be asked. One must be aware that the software industry and partly the entire IT sector (think of support and training) will only survive if new versions of operating systems and applications can be brought to market. How much easier and better the work becomes with it is very difficult to calculate – the content of a text document does not necessarily get better with a new word processing program.

As a negative example, I still remember exactly when in Office 2007 or Word 2007, unlike before, there was no longer a symbol for "Print", which millions of users had gotten used to. P.S. The symbol is still present in the OpenOffice program "Writer"...

 

FOSS is not subject to commercial "update" pressure.

 

I am very aware that I am also in the IT sector, but with the flood of updates, upgrades, and useless applications, I wonder where this will lead.

Especially here, open-source applications have a different approach – since no one pays for new versions, there is no pressure to program new versions mainly for financial reasons. In the open-source area, new versions mainly appear with bug fixes (updates) and only a few new functions. Often, a survey is conducted among users to determine which new functions are desired and useful.

 

In the area of operating systems, the market leader Microsoft has also had to experience that commercial users, in particular, are not willing to go along with every update. (Example XP → Vista).

 

I am mainly addressing power users. Especially the change in the desktop area can take some getting used to. But there are also users who do not notice any difference between a Linux desktop (FOSS) and a Windows desktop. If you are already used to using FOSS like Firefox, Thunderbird, and OpenOffice, the transition will be even easier.

 

All these arguments lead to the inevitable question of what the software market leader Microsoft can still offer in the future.

  • Desktop operating systems → FOSS is gaining more and more market share, not only think of Linux but also Android where a pad version has already appeared and Google has already started a "quasi" FOSS desktop operating system with Chromium.

  • Server operating systems → FOSS is already leading with Linux.

  • Desktop applications → Office can no longer get better, LibreOffice is already equivalent

  • Outlook/Exchange Groupware → free alternatives are available.

  • Databases: Microsoft's MSSQL has never played such a big role.

For these reasons, Microsoft has brought a product to the market with Office365 that no longer relies on a one-time license payment but generates income every year. With included cloud storage and automatic updates (you always have the latest version), Microsoft offers an attractive package. After all, you can install the programs on multiple devices and have the data available everywhere.

 

Why is FOSS having such a hard time?

 

One must consider that a significant part of the cost of paid software is spent on marketing. As a result, paid software is naturally much more present. Microsoft has worked for years to ensure that the name Microsoft is primarily associated with Office. "Excel", "Outlook", "PowerPoint" are even registered trademarks of Microsoft. However, in Germany, "Office" and "Word" alone are not protected as trademarks – they probably cannot be protected. (Research http://register.dpma.de).

 

A lot of money is also spent on the privilege of having software pre-installed on a new computer. Hardware manufacturers receive special conditions or even credits for pre-installing a specific operating system - of course, Microsoft Windows - and certain packages (Microsoft Office Trial, Norton Security, etc.). Hardware manufacturers naturally also benefit from this; they can also argue with the new software.

Large software manufacturers also spend a lot of money on "lobbying". Especially decision-makers in politics are often overwhelmed and impressed by lobbyists. Concerns are often heard with FOSS that no one is responsible for the software. That is correct. But if you study the license agreements for paid software closely, you will find that the developers also protect themselves and, for example, exclude liability for damages caused by the use of faulty software from the outset. Support is granted, but anyone who has ever tried to get support from Microsoft as a simple user is quickly disappointed. The systems are so complex nowadays that it is easy to blame others for a mistake. The layperson can hardly trace the chain of responsibilities.

Software Development

Even for software developers, the use of FOSS brings many advantages in my opinion. Nowadays, there are free development environments (FOSS) for most programming languages and systems. The costs for the previously very expensive development environments are eliminated. Many software components are available as open source and can be adapted if necessary.

Outlook

Even in the rapidly growing smartphone market, FOSS has made its way. The Android mobile operating system is open source (FOSS) and is based on a Linux kernel. Android will be the most installed mobile operating system in 2011. As FOSS, Android is open to all manufacturers and well-documented, which is also evident in the rapid development of new features. Other manufacturers with closed systems like Apple (iPhone) are now lagging behind. Microsoft tried to launch WindowsMobile together with Nokia – but also with a closed system – and failed miserably...

I am convinced that the FOSS representatives "Android" (smartphone and tablet PC), as well as Google's operating system "Chrome OS" (based on Linux), will also help open source software to break through on the PC.

 

Martin Kopp, revised in January 2011, January 2017