I always see people looking specifically for open source software and never knew why. Thanks!
In: Technology
Other people have explained the whole concept of being able to review the source code. But here’s my take,
It’s all about their intentions for making the software in the first place. When a developer makes a project open source and freely available, it’s because they believe they have created something useful that might be useful to others. They want other people to be able to use that software, and they want other people to be able to expand upon that software. Their desire for releasing the software isn’t money or fame, but often just because they saw a niche that wasn’t being filled by other software.
Software that isn’t open source, but is free, often has some other angle to it about how they want to make money. This isn’t the case every time, but quite often this is how it goes. Sometimes it’s bundling in other software that’s on a trial period. Sometimes it’s collecting and selling your data. Sometimes it’s showing you advertising. Sometimes it’s from limiting features and then charging you full the full version.
Open source software is usually just software with no strings attached, while closed source software often has an alterior motive, especially if it’s free.
Latest Answers