The Benefits of Open Source

According to opensource.org, the benefits of open source technology include those listed below. Many other sources, however, my disagree with these benefits. For example: Open Source may be less reliable without a large company guaranteeing a help hotline. We explain the logic behind the open source benefits, but they are open to debate.

• Lower cost- Open source software costs no money. Equivilent proprietary GIS, software can cost many thousands of dollars.
• Better quality- Open source software quality control is in the hands of the users. This means that open source software is updated more frequently and meets the needs of users. If the quality of an open source software is sub-par, a thrifty user can make it better and post his or her better version online for everyone to use.
• Higher reliability- Open source webpages often have ongoing updates, plugins, discussions, and news feeds. Often, a programmer will find a glitch in the code, fix it, and alert users in this public form.
• More flexibility- If you need to do something new with an open source package, you can change the program to adapt to your needs.

Example: Wikipedia, implemented using MediaWiki software, which is covered by the GNU GPL, a popular license that is both a free software license and also approved by the OSI as an Open Source license.