It’s interesting to think about open source’s rise to the mainstream. These days, some of the most pressing priorities exist around its concept. Build an open software, create an open source inventory, attain an open source community. Twenty-five years ago, however, the notion of open source and business would have been a fantasy. This is especially true in a market where ownership means everything.

Before a small strategy meeting in 1998, Palo Alto, California, closed source software options were the only way people ran their business. This, in many ways, was expected. No-one wanted to go to the effort of formulating a concept, arranging a team, marketing, spending and building an online presence, only for some other business to come along and copy all of the code.

For business owners back then, that would be like sitting an exam amongst all of their rivals and projecting their answers onto the blackboard. As an idea, open source software wasn't even worth considering.

The Fruition Of Open Source

Cue that strategy meeting in 1998. Here, conferees around the table were taken in by Netscapes move to release their code. They believed it was an innovative move which would only improve the code at source, with the possibility for a more secure, engaging and stable software to be built through an invested community.

Quite apart from the philosophically obscure label “free software”, this would be a way to focus a company’s efficiency and productivity, which would be hard to replicate with the isolating nature of the closed source cycle.

Twenty-four years later and that idea has come to fruition. Today, more and more businesses are embracing open source softwares over closed-source, meaning their code and behind-the-scenes make-up is being advertised to both users and business competitors alike.

But why is open-source software still a good option for your company and is there anything you need to consider before making that choice? To help you out with these questions, below are five reasons why open-source remains so popular in 2022:

1. Bend Not Break

The competition in any IT based organisation has been fierce for decades now. This is why it is so important for a computer-based business to have the ability to keep up with their rivals and avoid being left behind. Say for instance, a problem arises with your software. Working on a closed source would mean attaining help and waiting on a vendor to provide capability.

This could lead to heavy costs, wasted time, and your organisation possibly getting blocked. The concept of open source, however, encourages flexibility and agility, giving you multiple ways to solve that problem. The source is designed to bend and twist whichever way it needs to.

2. Money On The Mind

Of course, whenever the conversation of open-source comes around, one of the number one questions a company asks is: how much will it cost? The short answer is: not a lot. Open source software is often a far more flexible, stable and cheaper option when compared to any of its proprietary peers.

This is due to the fact that it is developed by communities, rather than a single company who is keeping all of the code behind a closed door. Not only this, but open source is also far more conducive for companies starting small and planning to grow larger in scale. This is very important when considering how many online businesses will fail due to their budgetary challenges.

3. The Best Of The Best

Any company wants talent working alongside them, but it is hard to achieve this when your software is closed off to communities and outside interest. Open source can give you the opportunity to interact with equals and develop solutions together, which will similarly give your organisation a far greater chance of success.

There are many professional technologists out there at the moment, and most of them believe that open source is going to be embedded in the makeup of the future. In this way, it is important to attract those technologists by presenting them with some flexibility and freedom which can act as tools to your organisation.

4. Security Is Everything

The online world is dangerous and constantly at risk from faults and hackers. With open source, however, your company will have a faster and efficient solution to fixing any vulnerabilities.

In an open source project, any issue that takes place within the software can be fixed within a matter of hours, especially if the issue is high in its severity. Commercial vendors, on the other hand, can often take far longer to fix software problems, which leaves your company more at risk from further damage and delays.

5. Speed To The Future

Talking of speed, an open source software enables a great amount of speed when it comes to starting, building and developing software, as well as understanding issues and being able to sort them out whenever they arise.

As an organisation, you will be looking to constantly deliver value, and an open source software will achieve that through its speed and efficiency. The future of business is looking for this kind of innovative implementation, and that’s why it is important to get on board. If things continue, it is likely that open-source will embody the bricks of business architecture over the next few years.