Content within this wiki is still under construction
Tim Waring & James Cope's wiki for Network Technologies at MMU.
The use of open source software has greatly increased in the past few years, with more people using computers, and becoming more literate in using them.
Open source
Open source, generally means that the software is free for anyone to use, and anyone can edit the way the software runs or behaves. This can have advantages, as it allows the user to personalise the software to suit their own needs, however on the downside, this could also lead to misuse of the software, or create problems which may prevent a piece of software from running the way it should.
Open Source for networking
There are many advantages to having a network made from open source rather than closed source. Some of the advantages of open source are located here with lots of general information from the reliable source of "about.com". "Mozilla's Firefox" web browser, is a open source browser, which can be personalised to suit the users needs.
Closed Source for networking
Closed source networking software is that they are purpose built packages, with many users using them, as they are just able to be bought "off the shelf" from a computer software store. Microsoft's "Internet Explorer" is a internet browser which comes with the standard operating system of "Windows". These have advantages over the open source, as they are more common, and more well known, especially for the less experienced users.