Open Source Software and osCommerce
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Open Source Software and its
Relation to osCommerce
E-commerce sites such as
osCommerce function through the use and continued success of open source
software – in fact, open source software is what makes these sites free. So what exactly is open source software? The purpose of article is to help you better
understand what open source software is.
Basically, open source is
based on the idea that when people have access to a software’s source code they
can change, improve and evolve a piece of software at astonishing speeds – a
characteristic that ends up produces really great software that meets the needs
of its users.
Open source software is not
just free code for website and software.
Open source software is “governed” by the Open Source Initiative. According to the website for the Open Source
Initiative it must meet several criteria to actually qualify as open source:
First of all open source
software must not restrict anyone from selling (or giving away) the
software. In other words, it cannot
require a royalty or fee. For a product
to be open source, it must also provide the source code so that the users can
easily evolve the software to fit their needs and any software created with
free software must be free as well.
Furthermore, open source software distribution cannot discriminate
against people or fields.
So, how did this concept
begin? Most experts on open source
software will agree that the concept of open source software began with the
creation of the internet which was created and improved upon by it’s users who continually
changed the code to make it work for them.
Then, when computers were
first used, programs were often sent as a printed version that had to be
entered into the computer line by line.
Programmers not only entered the
programs onto the computers, they also were able to “play” with the programs
and make changes as well as share there ideas with others.
Once computer became more
mainstream and people other than programmers began using programs, the need
(and desire) for the source code declined.
This is when software companies began realizing the economical benefits
of keeping their source code for software private. This also began the influx of new and
incompatible operating systems which further declined the ability for programmers
to share and collaborate with one another.
While there are benefits to creating and selling software in this
manner, some programmers realized the limits this posed on the usability of the
software.
Without keeping the source
code open, the users were bound to the limits of the software and were not able
to alter it to fit their individual needs.
This is what began the development of the GNU Public License operating
system for open source software. The
premise behind renewing the concept of open source software is that software
development would be faster and more efficient in giving people the programs
they need and want to use.
Today, open source software
is becoming more and more mainstream and is used quite frequently on the
internet for websites and browsers.
How does it all relate to osCommerce?
Obvious by its name,
osCommerce is based on the concept of open source software. This means that osCommerce is free to use and
the community members can feed off of one another to continually develop the
code that they use. The store owners
don’t simply purchase a software program (such as a shopping cart code) that
they need to implement as is. They can
design, develop and evolve their store presence to meet their changing needs. The beauty of open source code in a
situation such as this is that the members of the community can help one
another develop new code on an ongoing basis.
About the Author
Myles
O'Reilly is the author of the Programmers' Guide to osCommerce and is owner of
<a href="http://www.oscommercecafe.com">The osCommerce
Cafe</a> which provides <a
href="http://www.oscommercecafe.com">osCommerce
templates</a> to hundreds of web designers worldwide.
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