The Role of Open Source in Web Development: Pros and Cons
Open source software has always played an important role in the development of web projects. Unlike closed source proprietary software solutions that are developed by a particular company – so those who use it cannot affect the product – the source code of open source software is open, which creates multiple benefits for its community of users and developers.
When we talk about web hosting, the role of open-source software becomes visible already at the level of the operation system, with Linux being an extremely widely used server operating system, so you can start deploying your projects with a cheap Linux VPS hosting. But besides the operating system, open-source software plays a significant role in web development on multiple plans. Let’s have a look at what makes open source software so adored by web developers.
Advantages of open-source software in web development
1. Cost-effectiveness
Open source software, tools, and frameworks cost as much as nothing with just a few exceptions. This way you don’t have to take into account the cost of software necessary for the development of your projects.
2. Community support and collaboration
Open source projects tend to have big communities of enthusiasts who are interested in the life of the software, in developing and supporting something that they are going to use themselves. These active communities not only contribute to the software itself, to its code, but also provide for documentation and tutorials and take active participation on forums dedicated to the software. Therefore, opting for open-source software, you’ll likely always have something to rely on.
3. Flexibility and customization
Open-source software has open source code. This means that the software is open for editing, so theoretically anyone can modify the software according to their preferences. Although not everyone is a developer and can do something like this on their own, nevertheless there are often numerous modifications for almost any open-source tool or application, so you’ll have many more options to choose from compared to regular closed-source software.
4. Transparency
Considering the open-source nature of the eponymous software, the source code is open to everyone, so everyone can feel free to open and see it, analyze it and modify it. Therefore, it’s less likely there will be some hidden part that could be used by the developers to take advantage of their users or collect their data without their consent.
5. Rapid development and prototyping
Open-source software usually offers lots of per-built modules, plugins, and libraries that can give a great headstart to the development process, offering tools to rapidly realize the features you want.
6. Innovation and cutting-edge technology
Open-source projects are also often more open to the latest technological advancements and they don’t hesitate to add these sometimes experimental technologies and approaches to their projects. This way, with open source software you often get faster access to latest trends and technologies than in the case of proprietary software.
7. Avoiding vendor lock-in
By using open-source software, you might not get locked in by your vendor, becoming dependent exclusively on their software. This way you have overall more freedom to switch tools or platforms as needed without the need of large-scale migrations.
8. Security
Open-source software often is associated with a higher level of security. This, on the one hand, is provided by the community actively monitoring the code and making regular contributions that address vulnerabilities, not letting them become a cause of serious issues. Open source projects tend to get frequent updates and also feature robust security protocols.
Cons of open source software
Although there are numerous benefits of open source software, there are a few pitfalls that you have to be aware of before opting for open source software.
1. Complexity and learning curve
Open-source software is often made by developers for developers, so it can be sometimes less accessible to a broader audience, and will require more time from the new users to master them.
2. Lack of official support
Although community support often works great, it is not as regular and reliable as official support, which can be really helpful on certain occasions.
3. Compatibility issues
Open-source software can sometimes experience compatibility issues, being not always compatible with one another, which may result in integration challenges.
4. Security risks
Although transparency and active community affect the average security of open source tools in quite a positive way, there is still a risk of some vulnerabilities going unnoticed and remain unfixed.
5. Maintenance, updates, and quality control
Some open source projects may not be maintained actively enough, which may result in software of some of its features becoming obsolete. For the same reason, some open source solutions may not undergo sufficient quality control.
6. Scalability and performance
Sometimes open source software may not be optimized for high performance and scalability, especially if this was not the priority goal for the open source project.
Conclusion
Open source software offers numerous benefits for their users and can offer numerous benefits for developing web projects, being flexible, transparent, secure, free, and enjoying active community support. However, there are some things that may not work as desired, and we’ve tried to throw light on them as well. It’s up to you whether to use open source software or not, but we hope that we’ve clarified everything that you had to know about open source software. Good luck!
