Unit 3 Assignment 1 Open Source Software

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Open Source Software 1 OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE What are reasons for business to use open source software? Robert Keidel Western Governors University Open Source Software What are reasons for business to use open source software? 2 With the current economy difficulties, companies are trying to find areas in their businesses, where they can save money. Many companies are having no choice to let people go. Some try to avoid that and looking in other areas to save money. One of the areas is of course the IT department; especially the application accusation is an area that might lead to a big money saver. Even in financial difficulties times businesses need or want to improve their application environment, and sometimes it might…show more content…
Windows systems are very vulnerable through attacks from viruses, Trojan or malware. To protect Windows client or server businesses need to invest in protection software like McAfee or Norton Antivirus application. Linux OS are almost not vulnerable to Viruses, Trojans or malware. The reason for this lays in the permission and access control of Linux systems. In order to install a virus on to a Linux system the application needs to gain administrator (root rights). Many companies are even use Linux as their firewall system. “A standard tactic on many networks is to employ a secure Linux box as a firewall, intercepting intruders before they hit the network, and Security Enhanced Linux (SeLinux), developed by the US National Security Administration (NSA), is a component of many Linux systems.” (Hillesley, 2009). Quality and Support is the third criteria. Many people in businesses believe, because something is for free the product has a pure quality or bad to no support. In any open source company there are different supports and service modules available. One option is to hire the company for the installation, or accept a paid service contract for future maintenance and upgrades. There also free support available through a community forum that connects too many developer or users around the globe. All those people are happy to help to solve problems that may arise. A company that produces software for free relies on an outstanding support and a high…show more content…
On the end I will give an example where a business successful implemented open source. There are many different distributions available. The most well know are RedHat, SuSE, Ubuntu and Debian. Redhat founded in 1993, Red Hat is the leader in enterprise Linux and is the most recognized open source brand in the world. RedHat solutions include the the RedHat Enterprise Linux, virtualizations software, JBoss middleware solutions and many other services and management solutions. SuSE is a Linux OS provided from Novell. Novell provides a brought range of products, from server solutions to end-user computing. Behind Debian does not stand a company. Debian is an association from many individuals that working together to provide a free operation system. The target of Debian is to provide an operation system that is completely distributed from free software. Ubuntu is another example of a very successful Linux distribution. Ubuntu started in the year 2004, 11 years later then RedHat, but Ubuntu grew in those few years to one of

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