Open source software: myth-busting, business benefits and FOSDEM '21
Open source Published on •1 min Last updated
Here at Loadbalancer.org we love open source!
Open source software plays an intrinsic part in the foundations of our company, products and services. To dig into what this means to how we do things, more importantly, how it benefits our customers, we sat down to chat with Loadbalancer.org's open source advocates, Andy Zak, Andrew Howe and Peter Statham. Watch below or over on YouTube.
During our roundtable chat, we unpack:
- what open source is
- why and how we use open source software in our products
- common myths surrounding open source (and why they're incorrect)
- all the highlights from FOSDEM 2021
On the topic of what open source is (and isn't), Peter said: "At the end of the day open source is really about having access to the source code for your tools and programs, to do whatever you want to do with it. It's much easier to do it if you are able to modify the tool for your specific use case. You're able to fix bugs, add features and it's basically about having that power."
Andy agrees: "It really opens up the possibility for anyone to innovate and take on new projects, build them and cater them to the environment that they're trying to use the software in and perhaps make it better."
On using open source software at Loadbalancer.org, Andrew added: "We were able to build upon thousands of hours of work and millions of lines of code and decades of development from people all over the world. The important thing is that free and open source software empowers users and it's empowered us as a company because free software puts the users in control of the software and it's those important software freedoms that have put Loadbalancer.org where it is today."
Check out the full discussion above, or to go full-screen, or skip chapters, head over to YouTube.