Free Software: it is worth to be replaced by paid programs? – Globo.com

After the System of the Administration of Information Technology Resources (SISP) have expressed interest in replacing technologies based on free software products developed and marketed by Microsoft. Rekindles a discussion former on which is the best model of technology licensing, and if it’s worth it to replace the free by paid. In this column will be presented some basic concepts that will serve as the grant so that the reader can understand about what it is about this dispute.

what is free software?
free Software, according to the definition created by the Free Software Foundation is any computer program that may be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed with few restrictions. It is common for there to be confusion about free software and open source software. A program based on free software does not mean that it necessarily will have to be free, and not all free program or you have your source code accessible can be considered free software.

what is proprietary software?
it Is all of the computers that is a licensee with the exclusive rights to the product.

Why free software is important?
technologies based on free software include the collaborative development of programmers spread across the world and engaged in the project. They are organized in communities responsible for the creation and maintenance of programs, translation, testing and documentation. Students, programmers and enthusiasts can participate in projects, to study what has already been implemented and make improvements, when this is the case. This business model provides greater agility in the evolution and correction of failures of the programs. When a company has control of the development of a program, only your team of programmers can interfere in the source code. This does not mean that there are no communities of professionals and students of technologies based on proprietary software, but there is the possibility of interaction with the source code of the programs in the same molds of the programs considered free. It is not possible for a group of users of Windows 10 be able to access your source code and add improvements, for example.

Companies and government organizations can benefit from the freedom found in free software, perform customizations and take advantage of all of the initial work carried out collaboratively without having to pay for it, but you need to respect the licensing type of program. With the huge concern in information security, know internally the functioning of the programs, increases the reliability of its operation.

free Software vs. proprietary software
The inability to check the internal working of a program does not mean that it is necessarily technically inferior if compared with a program with the open code. There are proprietary technologies very well-known and market leaders in your follow-up. The Windows operating system is the most widely used in personal computers, followed by numerous GNU/Linux distributions and Mac OS X – operating system unique to the computers manufactured by Apple. The most popular programs for editing video and image are in the category of proprietary software, although there are programs with similar functions available for all platforms. It is possible to install a program based on free software on a proprietary operating system, for example.

Since 2002, intensified initiatives to promote the adoption of preferred programs based on free software in government organizations in brazil. Occurred thousands of migrations, operating system and office programs. In 2010, Petrobras installed the BrOffice.org in more of 90 thousand computers, saving the purchase of Microsoft Office licenses. Other federal and state agencies have followed the same model deployment programs. However, there is a learning curve for the operation with a productivity of alternative programs to Microsoft products – this adaptation is not always easy and cheap.
All the brazilians somehow are users of free software, some of the main technologies of open source or partially open are the following:

the Android – the operating system present on most mobile devices uses the Linux kernel. The platform of the robot is not considered to be completely free, but serves as a reference of quality in technology based on open code and collaborative development.

Digital TV – GINGA is the layer of the middleware (middleware) that allows the development of interactive applications for Digital TV independently from the hardware platform of the manufacturers determinais access (set-top boxes). The technology is present and 100 percent of televisions with support for Digital TV manufactured in the national territory.

Google Chrome – The web browser most used in the world is based on free software.

The data center infrastructure of Facebook, for example, uses various technologies based on free software for its operation.

Conclusion
The free software definition not restricted to the GNU/Linux operating system and the office program LibreOffice. We are all users of free software in a certain degree. However, the demonstrated interest in acquiring licenses of the Office suite, Windows Professional, Windows Server, Client Access Licence, is being considered by the activists of free software as a major setback in technology. The simple replacement of technologies based on a particular business model requires in-depth studies on the impact of their feasibility and usability. This analysis not only in the assessment of the cost of acquisition of licenses for proprietary programs, or the possibility to modify and distribute programs based on free software that are free of charge, to know if it is worth to opt for a certain technology.

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