Open source software projects bring an amazing feeling of community to anyone who works on the project. You see these projects everywhere, tons of people spending tons of their time for no profit. How wonderful! They all just work for a common good, to make a tool they all use better. Do these programmers want money? Of course, but not on this project. This project is special to them, and that makes them produce without any care. They do it in their off hours, and many do it because of their passion for the project. But, what if your open source product doesn’t have a zealous following?
Without zealous individuals, I hate to say it, open source software may never be a commercially responsible choice. Hell, I use open source software, but I care less about stability than the average person. There are two main reasons I feel open source will never be able to compete against proprietary systems or massive corporations developing software along the same lines.
First is security. When you have a community developing software together, that entire community knows how it works and where there could be holes. In the open source community, there could be individuals that desire to exploit these open source softwares to get information from the system. This information is capital to this individual, and they will monetize the crap out of it. Since there is money in information, expect any server housing your information to be under constant attack. There are ways to make your system a harder target: encryption of the data, SSL certificates to encrypt the data going to and from the server, and having lockout effects to bar brute force attacks (these are but a few). Yet, the best way to protect your server is to keep the code that runs everything hidden. That is why proprietary systems tend to be more secure… because only the people at the company know how it works. I try my hardest to defend your data. But, if someone wanted your emails, they could probably get them.
However, if you are really intelligent about how you handle your information, open source security issues becomes less of a threat (honestly even proprietary systems are crack/hacked often anyway). Let’s be honest, I don’t really care about some of the data I put out into the world. So, you can follow a few pointers below and this becomes less of an issue.
A few other tips for protecting yourself from attacks (if they do crack/hack a server):
- Different Passwords for Different Systems – This means using different passwords for different services/websites.
- Here is a scenario: You signed up for my site with an email address and then created a password for the site. The password on my site is the same as the password you use with your email address. In the rare case they hack my system, steal the encrypted data, then unencrypt it you will be vulnerable. The first thing the person will try, is your email address with the password from this site because most people use the same password for multiple sites. This is why Grandma tells to send you spam on random occasions.
- Stop creating insane passwords and start using complex sentences
- To be fair, the best password is a randomly generated password with insane characters and is impossible to remember. However, we are human so there is a second best option.
- Create nonsense sentences with improper spellings. A lot of brute force systems are linked to dictionaries and will begin cracking your password using common phrases. In order to beat this, use complex passwords that are also sentences (the sentence will help you remember it)
- An example: ThereRUnihornsOnDaHorse@523WabashStreet
- Bad example, but you get the jist. Make sure you have numbers and odd characters
Now, the second reason most open source software will not be a commercially responsible choice. You need a community! And if that community begins to disappear, then you won’t have anyone to help with the development of the software. Sadly, most people in open source communities (the ones that are thriving) are there because they are interested in the software and gain something from it. That is why WordPress has exploded as a content management system/blogging platform. Freelance workers are profiting from making it a better platform. As these programmers get engrained in the software, they gain a need to keep it flowing as it is becoming their specialty. Then you even get corporations who are developing because they have clients who desire certain functionality.
Even with such a robust community around WordPress, it will eventually fade and so will the software. People are constantly moving and technology is advancing. If WordPress gets too complex for new programmers to modify, they will not start. And as simpler and more powerful options appear, old community programmers will move to these “better” solutions (they like new and shiny things). This will only leave the corporations that try to hold on, only to eventually change their business model.
So, that is why I tend to warn people about open source software. I love it, but I contribute by paying for my plugins and hosting (I cannot code; I don’t pretend to code; so, I give money in lieu of community involvement). In the future, I will probably have to migrate to a new system, but I knew that when I chose WordPress as my platform. These are the issues, people don’t like to work constantly and support a system unless there is a monetary reward. It may take 2 weeks or 9 years before the programmer wants money for their contribution, but it will eventually happen. Especially, if the community constantly harks on them to improve or make modifications to their module/product/application. At this point, the programmer becomes the employee of everyone using their technology (nothing like 90,000 bosses). Would you, for free, continue to work for people who don’t pay you? No? Neither would I, and that is the biggest issue when it comes to open source technology.
So, if you plan on using open source because it is “free”. Realize that you may become reliant on the sweat and blood of someone who isn’t being paid. And when that person gets sick of working for free, they will leave. So, always have a little money set aside and PAY for premium services. Keep your programmer happy and well fed… otherwise they will leave and then you will be up shit creek without a paddle.
Oh yea, I forget I am a fiction author sometimes… I will begin writing the forth book on Monday October 13th, 2014. Expect another post shortly, I will explain why I have been… distant.