Open-Source vs Closed-Source

Open-Source vs Closed-Source

The number of operating systems available to a user is numerous, including and each Windows, Linux, Google Chrome, Android, and etc.; has their own advantages and disadvantages with the interactions and operations. These different variations of operating systems may have different operational abilities, but they can be classified into two categories, open-source and closed-source. These two categories have differences in various aspects that include the encoding, cost to the user, and ease of use for the user. The Open-Source aspect for operating system is defined as “pertaining to or denoting software whose source code is available free of charge to the public to use, copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute” (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2014. This scope of operating systems include Linux, Android, and Chrome. Android and Chrome are based off a version of the Linux operating system and Linux has numerous versions that are available to users. The Closed-Source aspect for operating system is defined as “intellectual property, esp. computer source code, which is not made available to the general public by its creators” (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2014. This scope of operating system includes Windows and Apple’s Mac OS, and the like which are also considered as proprietary software.
One of the major differences between open-source and closed-source operating systems would be the encoding of the software for the operating systems. This relates to the source code for the operating system, which defines how a programmer interacts and creates the communication with the operating system. The open-source operating system allows the user to create programs with a source code that is not specialized and is distributed without a royalty to a proprietary company for use of the software by any user. This allows the user create programs of their own design and make adjustments to the operating system of their own choosing with the operating system. The closed-source...

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