Free software is a movement that is very clearly distinguished from proprietary software.

The stakes of this change of philosophy are broad: economy, politics, security, strategy. The availability of the source code, the philosophy of knowledge sharing and the very dynamic community are sizeable assets for free software to stand up to proprietary software.

Economic advantage

Not all free software is free but almost always cheaper (see Linux more expensive than Windows? ”, As well as the controversy that followed: The Linux community denounces the“ biased ”nature of the IDC and Linux study vs. Windows: The total cost of ownership Comparison )

Free software must, however, offer features and performance comparable to proprietary software, otherwise the economic argument is null.

The purchase price is not the only cost to consider, there are also:

• installation
• getting started (migration and user training)
• upkeep (update, maintenance)
• the costs involved for security
• Besides the cost price, other points make it possible to choose between free software and proprietary software.

security

Security is one of the major challenges of software today.

Producers of proprietary software frequently publish patches to secure their software and respond to flaws that are gradually detected. However, as the code is not available , it is impossible for programmers to verify that the software does not have major security holes or back doors, let alone remedy them.

The free software has much better reputation: it is possible, with the source code, to objectively assess code quality and security offered by the software.

There are many forums, discussion groups, and community sites that discuss the integrity of various free software. If there are any security issues, they are detected earlier and are usually resolved faster since the community of programmers contributing is very large.

Finally, it is recognized that Linux operating systems are little or not at all prone to viruses, unlike Windows operating systems.

Dependence on the manufacturer

Faced with proprietary software , the user is powerless . If he discovers a software malfunction, he can only report it to the manufacturer, hope that the problem will be resolved in the next version of the product. Same thing when a feature is missing.

Faced with free software , the reaction is quite different: whether it is to correct an error, improve efficiency or even adapt the software to its particular needs (by adding new functionalities, for example), the user does not. is not helpless . Several options are available to him he can:

• consult the free software community and obtain a solution already developed
• call on one of the solid organizations that offer to support companies in their shift towards free software (support, training, maintenance, customizations)
• make himself the changes.
• Thus, mutual aid and working in partnership are the alternative offered by the free software world in the face of dependence on a manufacturer who decides himself on the modifications and additions made to the software.

Political consequences
Many governments refuse to be at the mercy of changes, specifications and data formats from a company that has a monopoly on the software products they use. They therefore turn to free software.

Business reactions
To take advantage of the various advantages of free software, several companies have decided to publish the source code of their software. For example, in 1998, to cope with the rise of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Netscape opened its Navigator. This gave birth to Mozilla which is now developed by a community of programmers. Apple did the same by offering DARWIN , which is none other than a free version of its OS X operating system.

From the user’s point of view

In general, proprietary software appears to be more ergonomic and easier to learn. The procedures for installing proprietary software (eg operating systems) are also more user-friendly and attractive: one click of the mouse, the installation starts, the recognition of new peripherals is done simply (this is the magic of the “plug and play ”).

However, free operating systems have made great strides. Indeed, free software is democratizing: it is no longer only reserved for IT experts. Graphical interfaces are now more user-friendly in the free software world and more and more comparable to those of proprietary software.