Authored By: ANMOL CHAWLA & NAMRATA BEHERA
ABSTRACT
Since the Industrial Revolution, humankind has sought ways to become more efficient in all realms of life from production at the factory to cooking meals at home. Today the mediating force between technology and humans is software. Life of humans has been enhanced and their standard of living has increased with the advent of new technologies. The creation of computer, cell phone, internet and interactive software has caused the world to become more globalized, and information has become more accessible to the general public. With any type of evolution, the standard of technology increases which finally accommodate our new needs for information and data processing. Open source software (OSS) is simply one of these evolutions. Open source software is a type of software that can be altered under peer review and is transparent in its process. Free and open source software, or FOSS, is typically developed in a collaborative fashion and the majority of its contributors are volunteers. Even though this collaborative form of development has produced a significant body of software, the development process is frequently described as unstructured and unorganized. This paper aims at explaining various trends and practices of Open Source Software. Open Source Software (OSS) development has gained significant importance in production of various software. Open Source Software developers have produced systems with functionality that is competitive with its corresponding proprietary software developed by commercial software organizations. This paper further discusses about various pros and cons related to OSS. Also it emphasises on the requirement of proper structured law to amputate the present imperfections related to open source software.
BACKGROUND
Day after day the pace of technology is crossing the speed of light. The world of computer
Bibliography: Hill vs. Gateway 2000 Inc., 105 F.3d 1147 (7th Cir. 1997) M.A Greg R. Vetter, The Collaborative Integrity of Open Source Software, 2004 Utah L. Rev. 563 SECONDARY SOURCES Justice Yatindra Singh, Cyber Laws, 3rd Edition (New Delhi: Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., 2007).