KEY BENEFITS

  • Very few (if any) virus or spyware issues!
    With Open Source software (OSS), thousands of eyes scrutinize source codes daily for security flaws and when one is discovered it is corrected immediately.  Microsoft on the other hand does not fix bugs until it receives many complaints; if at all.  As a UNIX variant, LINUX is inherently far more secure.  Accordingly in Apple Computer's, 'PC versus Mac' ads, it trumpets Mac's OS X operating system's relative freedom from viruses and software glitches.  This assertion is based upon the fact that the core of Mac's OS X is an open source FreeBSD (a derivative of AT&T's UNIX kernel named the Berkeley Software Distribution after the University of California Berkeley where it was born), which is very similar to LINUX.  In developing Mac's OS X, Apple switched to FreeBSD – an operating system that encompasses all-in-one the kernel, utilities, and applications – from LINUX (constituent parts of which are developed and packaged separately by various distributions).
  • Driven by user demand not Microsoft's whims!
    OSS incorporates innovations more rapidly than Microsoft and does so drawing on the practical needs of consumers rather than what its marketing department advocates. 
For instance, Firefox – the open source alternative (developed by the Mozilla Foundation, which began when Netscape open sourced its Navigator application's code) to Internet Explorer – featured long ago the tab browsing function that MS heralded as 'new' in its latest Explorer.  Many of the “innovations” (like 3-D desktop effects and an improved search engine) touted by Windows Vista were previously introduced in LINUX.
  • No “vendor lock”!
    If you select a software package and it does not perform as you envisioned, you can modify regardless of how long you have had it.  Since you can access the source code, you are able to customize the software to better suit your needs.
  • Open Source is FREE!
    While one may purchase boxed versions of OSS; it is rarely (if ever) necessary.  
With open source and LINUX, you can always upgrade at no-cost to the newest version without being held hostage to the “upgrade treadmill” – the frustration we all feel when we buy software and no sooner have learned how to use it that we must once again upgrade.
  • Supported by dedicated, far-reaching community!
    In addition to the independent academics, designers, and other individuals contributing their expertise; companies like IBM (which invests about $100 million annually) are stalwartly committed to the open source movement.