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robofighter
February 26th, 2010, 04:32 PM
I am making a persuasive speech for my speech class.
My topic is about the reason why to use free, open sourced software instead of closed source software.

So far my Main Points/ Sub-Main Points are

Its Open Source
There are no surprises hidden in the source code
It is often highly customizable
Support many file formats, including many of the obscure ones.

There is rarely any licensing headaches.

Bugs and vulnerabilities have been known to be found and fixed faster then well-known closed source programs.

Any more ideas?

Cost of Free, Opensourced software will not any topic a main point/sub main point as there are some Free, Open-source software can cost money such as red hat enterprise or DansGuardian (for commercial use)

mickie.kext
February 26th, 2010, 04:36 PM
Watch how professionals do it :KS

Look those videos of Jon Maddog Hall:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=chrome&q=Jon%20maddog%20hall&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#

And Go Open:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=chrome&q=Jon%20maddog%20hall&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#emb=0&hl=en&q=Go+open&view=3

markbuntu
February 26th, 2010, 10:14 PM
With linux no hardware is obsolete.

whiskeylover
February 26th, 2010, 10:16 PM
Its Open Source


You can't use the argument that the advantages of using X is that its X.

howlingmadhowie
February 26th, 2010, 10:22 PM
the reason why free software was first written by stallman is that he wanted people to be able to help themselves and to help their neighbours. he saw the danger of control being taken aware from the citizens and given to the companies and decided to write a huge amount of software and created a license so that it will always respect your freedom to be a good neighbour and share and help others if you wish.

this is what free software is really about. it's about being allowed and able to help others and to help yourself.

Sporkman
February 26th, 2010, 10:44 PM
You avoid vendor lock-in - if you're a business and you buy a closed-source software system, the you are dependent on the provider for updates and bug fixes. If that provider chooses not to support the software anymore, or goes out of business, or intolerably jacks up the price, then you are out of luck.

By going with an open-source system, you are no longer dependent on the vendor to maintain your system - if necessary you can do it yourself or hire another software firm for support & upgrades.

LinuxFanBoi
February 26th, 2010, 11:00 PM
In theory, The creators of open source software is so the user can inspect the code to see if there are any shenanigans going on. Problem is, not every user knows what they are looking at.

Another benefit is that it gives worthwhile project "Immortality." What I mean by this is that if the original developers for one reason or another decide to abandon a project that there is still demand for, someone else may adopt it.

Then there is the free part, there are two kinds of free. Free as in "Free beer" and Free as in the sense that a bird is free. Both are good for open source. only those projects that are truly useful and there is a demand for will succeed because commercialism plays little part in it's success. Free as in "Free beer" is good because, well who doesn't like free beer?

Bachstelze
February 26th, 2010, 11:10 PM
the reason why free software was first written by stallman is that he wanted people to be able to help themselves and to help their neighbours. he saw the danger of control being taken aware from the citizens and given to the companies and decided to write a huge amount of software and created a license so that it will always respect your freedom to be a good neighbour and share and help others if you wish.

this is what free software is really about. it's about being allowed and able to help others and to help yourself.

This.

Think of it that way: you are using a program and your friend talls you "wow that's a nice program, can you make me a copy?" If the program in question is proprietary, you only have two choices: refuse, or break the law. Refusing would make you a bad person, breking the law would make you a criminal. Free Software allows you to be a nice person without breaking the law.

gnomeuser
February 26th, 2010, 11:19 PM
I wrote this (http://davidnielsen.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/the-importance-of-open-drivers-and-openness-in-general/) on the importance of openness which you might find useful.

I also find that a important thing is the user experience, look at a popular application like iTunes. Apple decides which devices are supported and which codecs are supported. An open system supports the devices you have the way you expect, you aren't limited to the often narrow range of possiblities imposed on you by the vendor.

You also don't have hidden charges and incompatible licenses, after 3 months your applications don't become unusable till you input a credit card number.

Finally the thing I really think matters to user, everything on your system is automatically updated. You don't have 10 different applications all checking for updates, everything is handled for you. It is much easier to stay up to date this way and thus safer and more stable.

nmccrina
February 26th, 2010, 11:30 PM
You can't use the argument that the advantages of using X is that its X.

So, you're saying he can't use circular logic because it's circular logic? :P

howlingmadhowie
February 26th, 2010, 11:36 PM
So, you're saying he can't use circular logic because it's circular logic? :P

recursion /ri'kɜː(r)ʒən/ n. pl. recursions. see recursion.

tgalati4
February 27th, 2010, 01:22 AM
Compare the street maps of Haiti in maps.google.com and openstreetmap.org.

standingwave
February 27th, 2010, 01:22 AM
I would start with the open source definition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Source_Definition) as an introduction. First you need to define what it is. Then start going through some of the advantages:


Reliability: doesn't necessarily mean that bugs won't exist but it will mean that there is no corporate incentive to pretend that bugs don't exist. As a result, bugs are generally addressed and fixed more quickly in an open source environment than in a proprietary one.



Auditability: Proprietary software forces its users to trust the vendor when claims are made for qualities such as security, freedom from backdoors and other potential privacy concerns, etc. In an open source environment, you are assured that other eyes are looking at the code, even if you are not or lack the expertise.



Cost: Free as in free beer. Not much to say here. Make as many copies as you want, install it on as many machines as you want, give it to your friends and family. No need to keep track of software keys. No worries about having to pay for an upgrade at some future date.

katie-xx
February 27th, 2010, 01:29 AM
Good stuff. I can remember having to write a paper similar to this when I was in 6th Form.
UK stuff ...I think that corresponds to year 13 in USA ..not sure. (17 - 18 years old anyhow)

If it helps ... one of the key components of open source ...good open source anyhow..is adherence to standards.
You could also give an example of half way house.
The OPC standard, for example, is an open standard which anyone can access. Unfortunately, you have to be quite rich because its only available via the OPC Foundation.
So really, the standard is openly available to anyone who can afford to join the OPC Foundation.


Kate

gnomeuser
February 27th, 2010, 02:08 AM
I would tend to disagree with most people here, having done public speaking on the subject I have found that ideology should be left behind. Hit them with examples and derive the tenants of a solution.

I used to make the mistake of giving my Open Source talk by starting with a rather long explanation of the history and the reasons behind Open Source. I found that I lost a great deal of the audience to snoreville doing that and thus they lost interest in the latter demonstration and question segment.

I would start by either asking people what doesn't work for them or giving an example like the iTunes one. Then from the problems that poses work my way back to the solution. Perhaps end with a demonstration of a solution such as Banshee or another suitable solution to what problem you decide to present as your example.

handy
February 27th, 2010, 04:22 AM
Community; which is a much bigger word than its nine letters indicate. :)

Openness.

Freedom; in both senses of the word.