Quote:
Originally Posted by Omaroo
The problem with a LOT of open source code is that it does not pass muster when it comes to commercial rigidity. It merely floats out there until someone is interested enough to pick it up and run with it and supply better code back to the pool, at the end of the day meaning that lots of it is almost constantly useless for mission critical application.
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Sorry Chris, but that's a patently false statement. Most websites are hosted on Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP stacks and various stock exchanges around the world run on Linux. Linux is ubiquitous in datacenters and most of the phones that are sold today run Linux and OpenSource software.
The different licenses (GPL, LGPL, etc.) almost guarantee that the quality of software is high.
Most developers don't start from scratch, but base their software on a set of pre-existing frameworks and libraries. The GPL and LGPL guarantee that the part of your program that constitutes these libraries can always be updated, either because your source is (must be) available and can be recompiled, or because those frameworks are separate objects that plug into your program - that is a choice you have as developer.
This means that the GPL/LGPL guarantees that users can avail from any updates and bugfixes to parts of the software that you didn't write originally. So even if you will never update your code ever again, your actual program may still avail of bugfixes and performance increases years later because of fixes to the libraries and frameworks.
Then there is the trickle down effect. If you find (and fix) a bug in a framework or library, this fix is (should be) immediately available to everyone who uses that same library or framework. You just not only improved your own app, but also the app of thousands of others.
This 'mandatory' trickle down effect ensures you start off with quality tools, frameworks and libraries from the get-go. Ofcourse you're still free to build a shoddy app on top of that.
Plenty of those around, whether they're open source or not...
I should add that, personally, I like writing things from scratch and am not a big fan of using other people's libraries and frameworks. This is mainly borne out of the desire to keep things compact and as platform independent as possible, which means that I can not rely on platform dependent libraries and frameworks. My stuff (StarTools) is therefore closed source because there's no need or benefit to comply with any license.