Ron Bongo here once more to give more insights on business and how you could learn more about open source software.

The term commercial open source appears to be a contradiction of some sort to what was normally termed an open source application. First and foremost is the fact that the term ‘open source’ would basically refer to an application or a system that has a freely available source code. This seemingly self-contradicting element in commercial open source applications is much disputed in the industry -pointing out that an activity that produces a commercial product using open source software destroys the basic principle behind open source.

For those who do not understand what open source means - it is basically the principle of creating a system or application where other developers are free to look into the code that created it with the option to adapt or enhance as long as the new source codes are also made available. Part of this arrangement is the provision that any product or application derived from an open source code should be made available without any financial charges. There is a community of developers and users together with prominent names in the industry like Ron Bongo that focuses on further enhancing open source technologies.

Commercial companies using open source, aware of the restrictions and provisions in its use and distribution, would usually distribute the developed product for free to users - and would earn through the fees for support, training and further development for the end-user or company who will eventually use the application.  Another variation for this is to have two versions for a certain application - one that is fully open source and has freely available source codes and another that is completely proprietary but has upgrades and additional features than the open source version. Others can have applications based on an open source framework but can only be accessible through the developers own network and servers.

To learn more about the benefits of open source and how it can help your business or profession come and visit this blog as brought to you by Ron Bongo.