1.3.1. Open Source
The idea behind Open Source software is rather simple: when
programmers can read, distribute and change code, the code will
mature. People can adapt it, fix it, debug it, and they can do it
at a speed that dwarfs the performance of software developers at
conventional companies. This software will be more flexible and of
a better quality than software that has been developed using the
conventional channels, because more people have tested it in more
different conditions than the closed software developer ever
can.
The Open Source initiative started to make this clear to the
commercial world, and very slowly, commercial vendors are starting
to see the point. While lots of academics and technical people have
already been convinced for 20 years now that this is the way to go,
commercial vendors needed applications like the Internet to make
them realize they can profit from Open Source. Now Linux has grown
past the stage where it was almost exclusively an academic system,
useful only to a handful of people with a technical background. Now
Linux provides more than the operating system: there is an entire
infrastructure supporting the chain of effort of creating an
operating system, of making and testing programs for it, of
bringing everything to the users, of supplying maintenance, updates
and support and customizations, etcetera. Today, Linux is ready to
accept the challenge of a fast-changing world.
