My Thoughts on Open Source vs. Proprietary Programs
February 21, 2008 7:14 am Random ThoughtsYesterday I got into a discussion with a friend of mine about open source programs vs. proprietary programs. Now granted, my experience with open source programs is rather limited. The main programs that I’ve used are FireFox, GIMP, Nvu, OpenOffice, and I guess you might count WordPress.
So here’s my thought: there are some great open source programs out there. If you consider WP to be one of these, I would say its the best blogging software out there. FireFox is awesome, need I say more? OpenOffice is great, too. But some of the other programs I’m not as impressed with. For example, GIMP and Nvu. They are fine in their own right, but I would have to say that the proprietary programs kick their rears (if you know what I mean). DreamWeaver blows Nvu out of the water in my opinion, and I would much rather use FireWorks, PhotoShop, or Illustrator over GIMP.
Now remember, my experience is limited, but I think that in most situations a proprietary program is going to be better. And really I think the main reason for that is capitalism. If you run a software company, you are going to do your best to make sure that you develop a product that meets the needs of your customers. You have a financial interest in making the best product you possibly can. I just don’t see the same level of financial motivation behind an open source program.
It just seems to me that if you need a more advanced program like photo or graphic editing, you’re probably better to go with a proprietary program. You can do just fine with the open source versions, but I think they’re harder to use. Again, this is just my experience with them.
Of course, this could very easily start a very heated debate with all of the Linux vs. Windows people out there. But again, this has been my experience. Any thoughts?
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tags: opinion, technology, thoughts
[...] starfishfood.com wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt Yesterday I got into a discussion with a friend of mine about open source programs vs. proprietary programs. Now granted, my experience with open source programs is rather limited. The main programs that I’ve used are GIMP, Nvu, OpenOffice, and I guess you might count WordPress. So here’s my thought: there are some great open source programs out there. If you consider WP to be one of these, I would say its the best blogging software out there. OpenOffice is great, too. But some of the other pr [...]
Well,
Dan I can’t say that I disagree with you on these. I think if you dig a bit deeper you will find that the more polished programs like word press have a capitalistic engine driving it(there is a company called automatic that just raised $25 million behind word press). The gimp I am not aware of any type of company behind it. Many of the other successful open source packages out there have some sort of company behind them. The economics of Open Source has been an interesting topic of mine for a while would love to discuss it more with you.
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I think that both open source and proprietary software have its places. For example, while I would have to agree that photoshop is better than Gimp (I use both), Gimp would give the user the ability to mess around with a photoshop like interface before they decided whether they wanted to spend the money for the software.
The other great thing about open source software is that while it may initially be full of bugs, open source software is altered and changed by the community (sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse).
While the bought software will usually be better than the “free” kind, you can’t diminish its importance, in my opinion.
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I tend to agree also. I’m a software engineer, building J2EE web applications for a living.
Another supporting piece of evidence for your case:
Many of the very best open source tools are actually cleverly disguised capitalistic endeavors. The business model is set up such that the software is essentially a marketing tool used to drive sales of support and service contracts. JBoss and Spring both do this, and quite well. The software is a focus of the business since it’s a driver for sales, and it is thus kept up to date, working, and free (mostly) of bugs.
Yea Capitalism!
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I agree with you on many of your points. I <3 the concept of open source, but there is some great commercial software that open source has no change of beating.
I <3 Wordpress and Firefox. And I use open office on some of my computers.
Open source has its goods and its bads. Bugs and flaws are usually fixed quickly, and they take user’s input. But, some good projects get abandoned due to lack of funding or time issues.
Commercial companies have come out with some outstanding applications. (Google and Apple)
I don’t pick one side, but simply make a choice on a case by case basis.
And I don’t get caught up in the Linux/Windows debate =P
I use Mac, which I switched to 6 months ago, and will never go back.
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Well, I don’t necessarily think proprietary is always better. The support, however, is almost always far superior to open source, and that should always be taken into consideration.
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Open source is a movement that should be supported. I truly believe that this movement is an important step in the evolution of technology. It will probably not be a mainstream situation for a long time, but jumping on the bandwagon now is easier than ever since most applications are being supported.
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I try not to generalize when it comes to open source vs. proprietary solutions. I think that for things where rapid changes are needed, open source will have the most potential to shine. With Wordpress, the add-ons are what truly make it outstanding. A commercially packaged blogging software probably wouldn’t be as inclined to update so frequently unless there were some form of ongoing monetization.
On the other hand, a software like Photoshop doesn’t change nearly as often. You buy it once in a great while and nearly everything you need is built in. Assuming that the money is there, I would always side with the commercial version of something like Photoshop.
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I think it really depends on the audience if open source makes sense. If the software is for dynamic, tech savvy folks, open source can be very powerful.
For everyday users, maybe not so much.
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Open source is a good movement that should be appreciated. I truly prefer own property projects because , with other party sources you may go in trouble when you want to change good for you neccessary plans.
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The line between open source and proprietary has become fuzzy over the last few years. Once upon a time, open source was almost like a software hippy commune. Now look at a company like Canonical and Ubuntu. Clearly there is a profit motive there and open source is a means to an end. By the way, that is an excellent example of an open source product that can compete with the best of the “proprietary” operating systems!
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Hi! I think that Open Source programs are really great, but when we need a tool for more complex work, they fail apart
So, use open source like Firefox, Open Office and Wordpress is pretty good, but for professional work, to waste some dollars in Photoshop its better
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I love open-source! I find Open Office so much better than MS Office, and Firefox beats IE hands down. The internet has really changed the face of software distribution…
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To me open source programs has its limited function. It will depends on its user. For normal user some open source programs is suitable for them because of the user friendly interface, and for any professional its best to use the Proprietary ones because you can get the max results of work for using it.
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You can not beat open source.
There is so much talent out
there that open source give an outlet to.
firefox beats IE any day of the week and look at the money Microsoft have gotten to play with
Rich
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Being a LAMP developer I am a great fan of open source software, but you have to remember that the quality of open source software relates directly to the demand for it.
Open Source operating systems have excelled simply because of the need for a low cost efficient platform when hardware and bandwidth costs can be expensive.
Open Source Office products have excelled because Word has become a household name, required by nearly everyone and naturally a high demand.
The GIMP however suffers as there isn’t such a high demand for high end graphics products other than for people who require it for their job and extreme hobbiests (is that a word?)
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The original intention of creating the Internet to share information free. How I love the open-source community. How much trouble we have if are still building websites using Frontpage. Now we have Wordpress, b2Evolution, Nucleus, Joomla, Drupal, SMF, phpBB, all free because of open source community.
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If you will notice, there is a big difference in the propriety and open source software. The difference is that, all open source are modifiable which will cater to the needs and likes of the user while the Propriety are not. Take for example the internet browsers Firefox and IE, as we all know that many uses the Firefox than IE because it is modifiable.
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What a g8 site.
I was looking for it.
I do agree with your views.
Thanks alot for the information
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I like opensource software. I use Open office instead of MS office and paint dot net instead of Photoshop. I hate how long it takes for photoshop to load, or is it just me? NVU had great potential, but I believe the program was abandoned years ago.
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yeah, very true..I also used paint dot net due to faster loading of the program..in some cases, open source softwares are better
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I use both. Some commercial products I like because they integrate well with other software. Some open source i like because i can modify to make work the way i want it too. This is painstaking so i limit the open source programs i use. Yes, it is a little buggy but ‘free’ makes me a little more patient with that problem.
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It’s great article.
I do agree with your experience.
Thanks for sharing here…
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