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WhyIsOpenSourceABigDeal.md

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Why is open-source a big deal?

You can find open-source almost everywhere and it is not just limited to communities and developers. It influences and welcomes participation of individuals even from the non-technical arenas, big corporates and engineering schools.

  • With open-source contributions, you can build applications and services which can then be released along with their source code so that literally anyone can change them at their will. They can at least have an option to utilize the services of a vendor of their choice.

  • The fact that any other type of software exists is itself strange as there is limited control over what you can control and what you cannot. Any required maintenance would need some other person to fix, re-package and assist in providing even basic upgrades.

  • For big corporations, open-source has become to most reliable and cost-efficient way to build great software applications. They are fine with their status quo but they cannot look away from the insights and reviews that open-source communities tend to provide.

  • Ever wondered why big industries organize hackathons and ideathons? Employees seldom provide good contribution out of will and it is only a good old competition that brings the best out of people. It is win-win as even corporations get good ideas to bank on.

  • Individual developers should seriously consider open-source projects as their hobby. It is fun hanging out with a bunch of like-minded folks on forums discussing how a piece of code can be optimized. You can can hone your skills by getting on such an open platform.

  • There are always new ideas to explore. Members are willing to discuss problems with you way more than your fellow classmate or your peer in the next cubicle. Contributions are welcome – be it a tiny bit of code, a discovery of bug or simply a typo correction in docs.

  • People from non-technical areas do not even know that they are contributing to open-source already. Almost every web application hosted on a GNU/Linux server traces issues and understands when things go wrong. They are actually hunting bugs this way.