Is Open Source Superior?

By NewsFactor Network | January 30, 2007

Can you improve your IQ? Can you improve it by a factor of thousands? That might seem like the pipe dream of some overzealous geneticist. But in truth, it’s the promise — and perhaps the power — of the open source movement, where two heads are better than one and two thousand are better than two.

Just ask an open source advocate about the strength of his community, and he’ll tell you that it is the community — the mere fact that so many coders and critics can examine the code, each adding his own knowledge to the project. With open source, the strength of the community is the community itself.

“Theoretically, you have an almost unlimited IQ that you can put into solving a problem,” says Michael Goulde, senior analyst at Forrester Research and an open source expert.

He’s not alone. New research from Gartner analyst Laurie Wurster shows that open source and its aggregate IQ are catching on in companies. “They’re using open source components for internal development,” says Wurster, “and in about 70% of cases where that’s happening, they would have purchased a proprietary product if open source didn’t exist.”

A New Model

So what does open source offer that commercial software can’t?

A shared approach, for starters. Yes, teams in commercial software firms collaborate. But in the open source world, sharing code, thoughts, plans, projects, and critiques goes well beyond office walls and even industries and borders. “What that really translates to is an efficient use of resources in resolving universal or common challenges,” says Goulde.

But that’s not all. Global production means constant production.

“It’s 24-hour development, not 9 to 5 development in the US,” explains Wurster, adding that round-the-clock revisions mean a faster time-to-market, too. “In the end, the world’s eyes are going to be more valuable than maybe a research and…

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