We all are well acquainted with the term Open-source programming or Open source software. With many advantages of open source software, does open source projects mean just uploading or getting some code up on GitHub or in a public repository? Maybe it sounds like “So simple, it only takes a minute to learn the rules, but so complex it requires a lifetime to master.” Learn what it is—and what it’s not.

What is open source programming?

Open-Source programming is when the source code is accessible for viewing, modifying, and redistributing to the world. Open Source Programming means you write the codes that other people can freely use and edit. Of course, the author must have copyright for those codes.

What is the misconception about open source programming projects?

Suppose an open-source code is accessible on GitHub. Does that mean you are free to do anything with that code without checking other criteria? Not at all! It seems vulnerable, and the owner can sue you anytime if you do not check for the license. Yes, this is one thing very essential when you are about to handle open-source code. Unlicensed code is a bad practice for both the code owner and the user. Exploiting and getting exploit are equally unhealthy practices in this case. In a simple term, unlicensed code is unsafe code for use.

Of course, it may be a question for us that platforms like if public domains like Github are open public domain, then why licensing becomes so crucial for open source code? Sometimes, words change their meaning, which is public to your country, maybe not permissible in other countries. Suppose, sitting in India, you can place your own code on a public repository, whereas in Sweden, it may be restricted to put the code in such a way. So, licensing is a universally enforceable way to work with open source projects.

Related post - Pros and Cons of Open-Source Programming languages

Advantages of Open-source software

Lesser hardware costs: You can easily compress Linux and open source solutions; hence, they are portable. Consequently, they take lesser hardware power than the hardware power required on servers to execute the same task. Since it is less dependent on hardware, you can even use older and cheaper hardware to achieve the same desired results.

High-quality software: Open source software is mostly well-designed and high-quality software. Furthermore, you can access the source code. Besides, it can also be efficiently used in coding. No doubt, open-source software is an ideal choice for organizations.

No vendor lock-in: Open-source software is vendor-independent. Hence, organizations can avoid expensive license fees, lack of portability, and the inability to customize software and related disadvantages.

Integrated management: Open source software leverages integrated management. As it uses technologies like common information model (CIM) and web-based enterprise management (WBEM), those enable developers to integrate and combine server, service, and workstation management and application. This facilitates efficient administration.

Simple license management: There is no license compliance for open-source software. As a result, you can install open-source software several times and use it from any location without worrying about license compliance.

Lower software costs: Since there is no expenditure on licensing and maintenance, open-source software minimizes software costs.

Community support: Every open-source software maintains a community from where you can get support freely. Also, there is a paid support facility. Most organizations who create open-source software solutions provide support and maintenance.

Scaling: Open source software is easily scalable. This can be done with the help of clustering, load balancing, and open source applications. With all this support, any organization using open-source software can scale up and achieve higher growth.

Importance of license for Open-source software

An open-source software holds some license. Though it is not the same as the vendor-related license, it has two key parts: rights and obligations.

-Rights define what you are allowed to do. This is directly related to copyright law.

- Obligations identify things to do in return for those rights.

For example, the MIT license includes "the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, [...]". In exchange, the user must include the copyright notice and license text in all copies of the software.

Furthermore, if you want to collaborate with others, then you must explicitly license your code. This helps to protect both your rights and those of any collaborators.

How to choose the right license for your open source programming projects?

Does the next question come as to how to apply for a license for open source programming projects? Before that, we should know how many types of open source licenses are there and what they mean?

Usually, there are 5 types of licenses that you can apply for your open source projects.

1. GNU General Public License

• You can copy the code anywhere and any number of times.
• You can distribute the code with the same license in a downloadable or paper format.
• You can sell the license to others for their free use.
• It can’t be used for proprietary software.

2. GNU Lesser General Public License

• Fewer right to work than GNU General public licenses.
• Right, fit for libraries and projects which allow linking from non-GPL and non-open-source software.
• Can be used with paid software

3. BSD License

• Fewer restrictions than other software licenses.
• Two versions available - New BSD License and Simplified BSD License
• You can do unlimited redistribution with New BSD License for any purpose, as long as the copyrights and disclaimers of the license warranty are maintained.
• In case of code modification with the New BSD License, the code owner can't be mentioned if he is a famous one. This is not the case with the Simplified BSD License.

4. MIT License

It’s the most used open-source license that comes with most open terms.

6. APACHE LICENSE

Rights under this license are never-ending, meaning once you have the rights under Apache License, you can continue to use them forever. Besides, you will get the worldwide authority of rights without any fee or royalty. Nobody can revoke the rights as well.

Now that you come across all the types mentioned above of licenses, you will better comprehend which one best suits your open source program. However, it is always good to let Github selects the best one suitable for your open-source software project. So, go to – choosealicense.com, and you will find various options like below –

Once you select the right license for your project, the next step is to apply for it. Whether it is GitHub or BitBucket, you will get a folder structure for your project files on any public domain. So, you need to put the LICENSE.txt file in the root folder. Then to each file header, you need to add the license location along with the author name. 

It is always advisable to use known licenses instead of making custom licenses, which may cause user confusion and ambiguity. Selecting from mostly used ones like MIT or Apache is the best choice.

Why are open source applications different?

As the name suggests, open-source software projects are not like proprietary software with a fixed and known number of functionalities. Any community or users use an open-source project with similar objectives, but their use cases may differ. Suppose you have written an open-source function that may be called with different types of arguments and expects different returns specific to use cases that you may not have even thought of during coding. So, the design of an open-source project must be versatile to avoid future pitfalls. 

How to build open-source programming software in the public domain?

You need to follow specific steps though not limited to go with your open source project.

 Step 1: Create an account on GitHub or other public domain.

Step 2: Create a repository.

Step 3: Add Readme.txt and LICENSE.txt

Step 4: Add code one by one.

Step 5: As the users will handle it, they will raise the tickets. This is a very crucial step to take your project to its goal. You need to answer every ticket, and don't forget they are your users, so you have courtesy. In this step, you need to perform diligently to grow interested among the users. Also, this will help to focus you on improving your project.

Conclusion:

It is worth working on open source projects for many reasons. First of all, you will get an in-depth knowledge of programming. Secondly, if it works successfully, it will add value to your professional career. You can refer the repository to potential employers to show your credibility as a programmer. It is an excellent platform for self-growth because you are working not only for yourself but for a more significant community.