Chapter: 01

What Is Open Source Operating System

The term "open source" refers to something that can be modified because its design is publicly accessible.
While it originated in the context of computer software development, today the term "open source"
designates a set of valueswhat we call the open source way. Open source projects, products, or initiatives
are those that embrace and celebrate open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping,
transparency, meritocracy, and community development.

Open source operating system or software is software whose source code is available for modification or
enhancement by anyone.

"Source code" is the part of software that most computer users don't ever see;
it's the code computer programmers can manipulate to change how
a piece of softwarea "program" or "application"works.
Programmers who have access to a computer program's source code can
improve that program by adding features to it or fixing parts that don't
always work correctly.

For computer programs which are covered by copyright law this is achieved with a software license where
the author grants users the aforementioned freedoms. Software which is not covered by copyright law, such
as software in the public domain can also be free if the source code is in the public domain (or otherwise
available without restrictions). Other legal and technical aspects such as software patents and DRM may
impede users from exercising these rights, and thus prevent software from being free. Free software may be
developed collaboratively by volunteer computer programmers or by corporations; as part of a commercial
activity. Free software is primarily a matter of liberty, not price: users, individually or collectively, are free
to do whatever they want with it this includes the freedom to redistribute the software free of charge, or
to sell it (or related services such as support or warranty) for profit. Free software thus differs from
proprietary software (such as Microsoft Windows), which to varying degrees prevents users from studying,
modifying and sharing the software. Free software is also distinct from freeware, which is simply a
category of proprietary software which does not require payment for use. Proprietary software (including
freeware) uses restrictive software licenses or user agreements and usually does not provide access to the
source code. Users are thus prevented from modifying the software, and this result in the user becoming
dependent on software companies to provide updates and support. Users can also not necessarily reverse
engineer, modify, or redistribute proprietary software.
1
Open source software benefits programmers and non-programmers alike. In fact, because much of the
Internet itself is built on many open source technologies
like the Linux operating system and the Apache Web server
applicationanyone using the Internet benefits from open
source software. Every time computer users view
webpages, check email, chat with friends, stream
music online, or play multiplayer video games, their
computers, mobile phones, or gaming consoles
connect to a global network of computers that routes
and transmits their data to the "local" devices they have
in front of them.

The computers that do all this important work are typically located in faraway places that users don't see or
can't physically accesswhich is why some people call these computers "remote computers." More and
more, people rely on remote computers when doing things they might otherwise do on their local devices.
For example, they use online word processing, email management, and image editing software that they
don't install and run on their personal computers. Instead, they simply access these programs on remote
computers by using a Web browser or mobile phone application.

Some people call remote computing "cloud computing," because it involves activities (like storing files,
sharing photos, or watching videos) that incorporate not only local devices, but also the global network of
remote computers that form an "atmosphere" around them. Cloud computing is an increasingly important
aspect of everyday life with Internet-connected devices. Some cloud computing applications, like Google
Docs, are closed source programs. Others, like Etherpad, are open source programs. Cloud computing
applications run "on top" of additional software that helps them operate smoothly and effectively. The
software that runs "underneath" cloud computing applications acts as a platform for those applications.
Cloud computing platforms can be open source. Open Stack is an example of an open source cloud
computing platform.

At the end, open source operating system is computer software that gives users the freedom to run the
software for any purpose as well as to study, modify, and distribute the original software and the adapted
versions. The rights to study and modify free software imply unfettered access to its source code.

2
3
 Chapter: 02
Origin of Open Source Operating System

In 1997, Eric Raymond published The Cathedral and the Bazaar, a reflective analysis of the hacker
community and free software principles. The paper received significant attention in early 1998, and was
one factor in motivating Netscape Communications Corporation to release their popular Netscape
Communicator Internet suite as free software. This code is today better known as Mozilla Firefox and
Thunderbird

Netscape's act prompted Raymond and others to look into how

to bring the Free Software Foundation's free software ideas and
perceived benefits to the commercial software industry. They
concluded that FSF's social activism was not appealing to
companies like Netscape, and looked for a way to rebrand the
free software movement to emphasize the business potential of
sharing and collaborating on software source code. The new
name they chose was "open source", and quickly Bruce Perens,
publisher Tim O'Reilly, Linus Torvalds, and others signed on to
the rebranding. The Open Source Initiative was founded in
February 1998 to encourage use of the new term and evangelize
open-source principles.

While the Open Source Initiative sought to encourage the use of the new term and evangelize the principles
it adhered to, commercial software vendors found themselves increasingly threatened by the concept of
freely distributed software and universal access to an application's source code. A Microsoft executive
publicly stated in 2001 that "open source is an intellectual property destroyer. I can't imagine something
that could be worse than this for the software business and the intellectual-property business." This view
perfectly summarizes the initial response to FOSS by some software corporations.[citation needed] However,
while FOSS has historically played a role outside of the mainstream of private software development,
companies as large as Microsoft have begun to develop official open-source presences on the Internet.
IBM, Oracle, Google and State Farm are just a few of the companies with a serious public stake in today's
competitive open-source market. There has been a significant shift in the corporate philosophy concerning
the development of free and open-source software (FOSS).

4
The free software movement was launched in 1983. In 1998, a group of individuals advocated that the term
free software should be replaced by open-source software (OSS) as an expression which is less ambiguous
and more comfortable for the corporate world. Software developers may want to publish their software
with an open-source license, so that anybody may also develop the same software or understand its internal
functioning. With open-source software, generally anyone is allowed to create modifications of it, port it to
new operating systems and processor architectures, share it with others or, in some cases, market it.
Scholars Casson and Ryan have pointed out several policy-based reasons for adoption of open source in
particular, the heightened value proposition from open source (when compared to most proprietary formats)
in the following categories:

Security

Affordability

Transparency

Perpetuity

Interoperability

Flexibility

Localization

The Open Source Definition, notably, presents an open-source philosophy, and further defines the terms of
usage, modification and redistribution of open-source software. Software licenses grant rights to users
which would otherwise be reserved by copyright law to the copyright holder. Several open-source software
licenses have qualified within the boundaries of the Open Source Definition. The most prominent and
popular example is the GNU General Public License (GPL), which "allows free distribution under the
5
condition that further developments and applications are put under the same licence", thus also free. While
open-source distribution presents a way to make the source code of a product publicly accessible, the open-
source licenses allow the authors to fine tune such access.

The open source label came out of a strategy session held on April 7, 1998 in Palo Alto in reaction
to Netscape's January 1998 announcement of a source code release forNavigator (as Mozilla). A group of
individuals at the session included Tim O'Reilly, Linus Torvalds, Tom Paquin, Jamie Zawinski, Larry
Wall, Brian Behlendorf, Sameer Parekh,Eric Allman, Greg Olson, Paul Vixie, John Ousterhout, Guido van
Rossum, Philip Zimmermann, John Gilmore and Eric S. Raymond. They used the opportunity before the
release of Navigator's source code to clarify a potential confusion caused by the ambiguity of the word
"free" in English.

Many people claimed that the birth of the Internet, since 1969,
started the open source movement, while others do not distinguish
between open-source and free software movements. The Free
Software Foundation (FSF), started in 1985, intended the word
"free" to mean freedom to distribute (or "free as in free speech")
and not freedom from cost (or "free as in free beer"). Since a great
deal of free software already was (and still is) free of charge, such
free software became associated with zero cost, which seemed anti-
commercial.

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) was formed in February 1998 by Eric S. Raymond and Bruce Perens.
With at least 20 years of evidence from case histories of closed software development versus open
development already provided by the Internet developer community, the OSI presented the "open source"
case to commercial businesses, like Netscape. The OSI hoped that the usage of the label "open source", a
term suggested by Peterson of the Foresight Institute at the strategy session, would eliminate ambiguity,
6
particularly for individuals who perceive "free software" as anti-commercial. They sought to bring a higher
profile to the practical benefits of freely available source code, and they wanted to bring major software
businesses and other high-tech industries into open source. Perens attempted to register "open source" as
a service mark for the OSI, but that attempt was impractical by trademark standards. Meanwhile, due to the
presentation of Raymond's paper to the upper management at NetscapeRaymond only discovered when
he read the Press Release,[69] and was called by Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale's PA later in the day
Netscape released its Navigator source code as open source, with favorable results.

Chapter: 03
Different Types of Open Source Operating System
Open source operating system refers to a program or software in which the source code (the form of the
program when a programmer writes a program in a particular programming language) is available to the
general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge. Open source code is
typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the
changes within the community. There are many types of operating system. But there are some major types
of operating system which are LINX and another one is UNIX.

A. Major Types of open source operating system

I. LINUX

Linux is a computer operating system which assembled

under the model of free and open-source
software development and distribution. This operating
system first released on 5 October 1991 by Linus Torvalds.
This software uses the name GNU/Linux to describe the
operating system, which has led to some controversy.

THE LOGO LINUX

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Linux was originally developed as a free operating system for Intel x86based personal computers,
but has since been ported to more computer hardware platforms than any other operating system. It
is the leading operating system on servers which are mainframe computers and supercomputers,
but is used on only around 1.5% of desktop computers. Linux also runs on embedded systems,
which are devices whose operating system is typically built into the firmware and is highly tailored
to the system; this includes mobile phones, tablet computers, network routers, televisions and video
game consoles. Android, the most widely used operating system for tablets and smart phones, is
built on top of the Linux.

Linux is already successful on many different kinds of devices, but

there are also many technological areas where Linux is
moving towards, even as desktop and server development
continues to grow faster than any other operating system
today. Many of the popular Web 2.0 services on the Internet,
such as Twitter, Linked In, YouTube, and Google all rely on
Linux as their operating system. As new web services arrive
in the future, Linux will increasingly be the platform that
drives these new technologies.

THE MODLE OF LINUX

The development of Linux is one of the most prominent examples of open-source

software collaboration. The under lying source code may be used, modified, and distributed
commercially or non-commerciallyby anyone under licenses such as the GNU General Public
License. Typically, Linux is packaged in a form known as a Linux distribution, for both desktop and
server use. In 2008, IDC analyst Al Gillen cited a nearly 24 percent annual growth rate for the
Linux industry, which puts a $21 billion 2007 technology at $49 billion in 2011. The companies
involved in Linux include industry leaders such as IBM, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Intel,
Hitachi, NEC, and Novell. All have all invested time, talent, and resources to bettering Linux on
their own and through the Linux Foundation.

8
 At the end, Linux is, in simplest terms, an operating system. It is the software on a computer that
enables applications and the computer operator to access the devices on the computer to perform
desired functions. The operating system (OS) relays instructions from an application to, for
instance, the computer's processor. The processor performs the instructed task, then sends the
results back to the application via the operating system.

II. UNIX

UNIX is a is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating

systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, that was developed by
some of the members of the MULTICS team at the Bell Laboratories
starting in the 1970's, many of who also helped create the C programming
language by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and others.

THE LOGO UNIX

9
Today, Unix is not just the work of a couple of programmers; organizations, institutes, and other
individuals have contributed significant additions to Unix and its variants, making it is a widely
used and popular operating system.

UNIX is primarily a command line oriented operating

system you can get additional applications such as X-
Window, which allows you to have a graphic oriented
operating system similar to Windows. Since Unix is often
used from the command line there are various shells. A
shell is a large add-on or modification of the Unix
operating system, to determine the shell you can type echo
$shell at the Unix prompt.

UNIX O

Many clones of Unix have arisen over the years, of which Linux is the most popular, having
overtaken the popularity of "true" Unix on server platforms since its inception in the early 1990s.

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 The Difference between LINUX and UNIX

Linux is a UNIX Clone

But if you consider Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) standards then Linux can be
considered as UNIX. To quote from Official Linux kernel README file:

Linux is a Unix clone written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit
team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX compliance.

However, "Open Group" do not approve of the construction "Unix-like", and consider it misuse of
their UNIX trademark.

Linux Is Just a Kernel

Linux is just a kernel. All Linux distributions includes GUI system + GNU utilities (such as cp, mv,
ls,date, bash etc) + installation & management tools + GNU c/c++ Compilers + Editors (vi) + and
various applications (such as Open Office, Firefox). However, most UNIX operating systems are
considered as a complete operating system as everything come from a single source or vendor.

As I said earlier Linux is just a kernel and Linux distribution makes it complete usable operating
systems by adding various applications. Most UNIX operating systems comes with A-Z programs
such as editor, compilers etc. For example HP-UX or Solaris comes with A-Z programs.

License and cost

Linux is Free (as in beer [freedom]). You can download it from the Internet or redistribute it under
GNU licenses. You will see the best community support for Linux. Most UNIX like operating
systems are not free (but this is changing fast, for example OpenSolaris UNIX). However, some
Linux distributions such as Redhat / Novell provides additional Linux support, consultancy, bug
fixing, and training for additional fees.

User-Friendly

Linux is considered as most user friendly UNIX like operating systems. It makes it easy to install
sound card, flash players, and other desktop goodies. However, Apple OS X is most popular UNIX
operating system for desktop usage.

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 Security Firewall Software

Linux comes with open source netfilter/iptables based firewall tool to protect your server and
desktop from the crackers and hackers. UNIX operating systems comes with its own firewall
product (for example Solaris UNIX comes with ipfilter based firewall) or you need to purchase a
3rd party software such as Checkpoint UNIX firewall.

Backup and Recovery Software

UNIX and Linux comes with different set of tools for backing up data to tape and other backup
media. However, both of them share some common tools such as tar, dump/restore, and cpio etc.

File Systems

Linux by default supports and use ext3 or ext4 file systems

.UNIX comes with various file systems such as jfs, gpfs (AIX), jfs, gpfs (HP-UX), jfs, gpfs
(Solaris).

System Administration Tools

1. UNIX comes with its own tools such as SAM on HP-UX.

2. Suse Linux comes with Yast
3. Redhat Linux comes with its own gui tools called redhat-config-*.

However, editing text config file and typing commands are most popular options for sys admin
work under UNIX and Linux.

System Startup Scripts

Almost every version of UNIX and Linux comes with system initialization script but they are
located in different directories are
1. HP-UX - /sbin/init.d
2. AIX - /etc/rc.d/init.d
3. Linux - /etc/init.d

End User Perspective

The differences are not that big for the average end user. They will use the same shell (e.g. bash or
ksh) and other development tools such as Perl or Eclipse development tool.

UNIX and LINUX Operating System Names

12
 A few popular of UNIX names:

HP-UX
IBM AIX
Sun Solairs
Mac OS X
IRIX

A few popular of LINUX names:

Redhat Enterprise Linux

Fedora Linux
Debian Linux
Suse Enterprise Linux
Ubuntu Linux

Common Things Between Linux & UNIX

Both share many common applications such as:

GUI, file, and windows managers (KDE, Gnome)
Shells (ksh, csh, bash)
Various office applications such as OpenOffice.org
Development tools (perl, php, python, GNU c/c++ compilers)
Posix interface

UNIX and Linux Hardware

Commercial UNIX hardware has more advanced initial boot options such as:

Decide how to boot

Check system health
Set hardware parameters etc

The BIOS that is standard in PCs which is used by Linux has few, of these features. UNIX hardware or
servers are pretty expensive as compare to Linux server systems.

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B. Other types of Open Source Operating System

1. React OS

React OS is an open-source operating system intended to

be binary-compatible with computer programs and device
drivers made for Windows Server 2003. A spin-off of a
previous attempt to clone Windows 95, development started in
early 1998, and has continued with the incremental addition of
features already found in Windows. React OS is primarily
written in C, with some elements, such as React OS Explorer,
written in C++.

2. L4

L4 is a family of second-generation micro kernels, generally

used to implement like Unix operating systems, but also used
in a variety of other systems. L4 was created by German
computer scientist Jochen Liedtke .L4 is widely deployed.
One variant, OKL4 from Open Kernel Labs, shipped in
billions of mobile devices.

3. Plan 9

Plan 9 from Bell Labs is a free distributed operating system. It

was developed primarily for research purposes as the
successor to UNIX by the Computing Sciences Research
Center at Bell Labs between the mid-1980s and 2002. Plan 9
continues to be used and developed by operating system
researchers and hobbyists.

14
4. AROS Research Operating System

AROS Research Operating System is a free and open

source multimedia centric implementation of the Amiga
OS 3.1 APIs. It designed to be portable and
flexible, ports are currently available for x86-based
and PowerPC-based PC sin native and hosted flavors, with
other architectures in development. AROS, in a show of
full circle, was also ported to the m68k-based Amiga 1200.

5. FreeBSD, Open BSD, Dragon BSD and Net BSD

FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended

from Research Unix via the Berkeley Software
Distribution (BSD). Although The first version of FreeBSD was
released in 1993, and today FreeBSD is the most widely
used open-source BSD distribution, accounting for more than
three-quarters of all installed systems running open-source BSD
derivatives.

Open BSD is a Unix-like computer operating system

descended from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD),
a Research Unix derivative developed at the University of
California, Berkeley. It was forked from Net BSD by project
leader Theo De Raadt in late 1995. As well as the operating
system, the Open BSD Project has produced portable
versions of numerous subsystems, most notably PF, Open
SSH and Open NTPD, which are very widely available as
packages in other operating systems.

15
 Dragon Fly BSD is a free Unix-like operating system
created as a fork of FreeBSD 4.8. Matthew Dillon,
an Amiga developer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and
a FreeBSD developer between 1994 and 2003, began
work on DragonFly BSD in June 2003 and announced it
on the FreeBSD mailing lists on 16 July 2003.

Net BSD is an open-source, Unix-like operating

system that descends from Berkeley Software
Distribution (BSD), a Research Unix derivative developed
at the University of California, Berkeley. It was the second
open-source BSD descendant formally released after it
forked from the 386BSD branch of the BSD source-
code repository. It continues to be actively developed and
is available for many platforms, including large-scale
server systems, desktop systems, and handheld devices and
is often used in embedded systems.

6. Syllable Desktop
Syllable Desktop is a free and open source operating
system for Pentium and compatible processors. Its purpose
is to create an easy-to-use desktop operating system for
the home and small office user. It was forked from the
stagnant Athe OS in July 2002.

7. Open Solaris

16
 Open Solaris was an open source computer operating
system based on Solaris created by Sun Microsystems. It
was also the name of the project initiated by Sun to build a
developer and user community around the software. After
the acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2010, Oracle decided
to discontinue open development of the core software, and
replaced the Open Solaris distribution model with the
proprietary Solaris Express.

8. Darwin

Darwin is an open source Unix-like computer operating

system released by Apple Inc. in 2000. It is composed of
code developed by Apple, as well as code derived
from NeXTSTEP, BSD, and other free software projects.

9. MINIX

MINIX is a Unix-like computer operating system based

on an microkernel architecture. Early versions of MINIX
were created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum for educational
purposes. Starting with MINIX 3, the primary aim of
development shifted from education to the creation of
a highly reliable and self-healing microkernel OS.
MINIX is now developed as open-source software.
MINIX was first released in 1987, with its complete
source code made available to universities for study in
courses and research.

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10. Free DOS

Free DOS (formerly Free-DOS and PD-DOS) is

a free operating system for IBM PC
compatible computers. It intends to provide a
complete DOS-compatible environment for running
legacy software and supporting embedded systems.

11. Haiku OS

Haiku is a free and open-source operating

system compatible with the now discontinued BeOS. Its
development began in 2001, and the operating system
became self-hosting in 2008.The first alpha release was
made in September 2009, and the most recent was
November 2012.

12. MenuetOS

MenuetOS is an operating system with

a monolithic preemptive, real-time kernel, including
video drivers, all written in FASM assembly language,
for 64-bit and 32-bit x86 architecture computers, by Ville
M. Turjanmaa. It has a graphical desktop, games, and
networking abilities (TCP/IP stack), yet it still fits on
one 1.44 MB floppy disk. On an Intel Pentium MMX 200
MHz it can boot in5 seconds.

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13. GNU

GNU is a Unix-like computer operating

system composed wholly of free software GNU is
a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix!",chosen
because GNU's design is Unix-like, but differs from
Unix by being free software and containing no
Unix code and was the original focus of the Free
Software Foundation (FSF). However, non-GNU
kernels, most famously the Linux kernel, can also be
used with GNU software. The combination of GNU
software and the Linux kernel is known as
GNU/Linux or sometimes Linux.

14. Helen OS

Helen OS is an operating system based on a multi

server microkernel design. The source code of Helen
OS is published under a BSD License.

15. eCos

eCos (embedded configurable operating system) is a free and open source real-time operating
system intended for embedded systems and applications which need only one process with multiple
threads. It is designed to be customizable to precise application requirements of run-time
performance and hardware needs. It is implemented in C/C++ and has compatibility layers
and APIs for POSIX.
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16. FreeRTOS

FreeRTOS is a popular real-time operating

system kernel for embedded devices. That has
been ported to 35 microcontrollers. It is
distributed under the GPL with an optional
exception. The exception permits users'
proprietary code to remain closed source while
maintaining the kernel itself Inferno is
a distributed operating system started at Bell Labs,
but is now developed and maintained by Vita
Nuova Holdings as free software.

17. RTEMS

20
RTEMS (Real-Time Executive for Multiprocessor
Systems) is a free open source real-time operating
system (RTOS) designed forembedded systems. The
acronym RTEMS initially stood for Real-Time
Executive for Missile Systems. Then became Real-
Time Executive for Military Systems before changing
to its current meaning. RTEMS development began in
the late 1980s with early versions of RTEMS
available via ftp as early as 1993. OAR Corporation
is currently managing the RTEMS project in
cooperation with a Steering Committee which
includes user representatives.

21
 Chapter: 04
Advantages of Open Source Operating System

The open source software is created according to industry demands but allows for upgrades to take place
freely when the need arises. Therefore, if bugs in the codes are found, they can be fixed by anyone
interested and capable. Fixes and patches to rectify the bugs are rapidly developed.

Open-source software is free to use, distribute, and modify. It has lower costs, and in most cases this is only
a fraction of the cost of their proprietary counterparts.

Open-source software is more secured as the code is

accessible to everyone. Anyone can fix bugs as they
are found, and users do not have to wait for the next
release. The fact that is continuously analyzed by a
large community produces secure and stable code.

Open source is not dependent on the company or author that originally created it. Even if the company
fails, the code continues to exist and be developed by its users. Also, it uses open standards accessible to
everyone; thus, it does not have the problem of incompatible formats that exist in proprietary software.

Lastly, the companies using open-source software do not have to think about complex licensing models and
do not need anti-piracy measures like product activation or serial number.

The software can be used in any way and for any legal purposes. There is no restriction in a unilateral way
on how the software could be used

22
Some briefly advantages of open source software which are:

The source codes are available to users and they have the rights to modify them.

This will allow improvements to the software without having to invest large sum of money in
research and development.

The modified and improved source codes can be freely redistributed. Its generally free it has been.

Estimated that open source software collectively saves businesses $60 billion a year. These days for
virtually every paid for proprietary software system you will find an open source version.

It continually evolving in real time as developers add to it and modify it, which means it can be
better quality and more secure and less prone to bugs than proprietary systems, because it has so
many users poring over it and weeding out problems.

Using open source software also means you are not locked in to using a particular vendors system
that only work with their other systems.

You can modify and adapt open source software for your own business requirements, something
that is not possible with proprietary systems.

Open Source's proponents often claim that it offers significant benefits when compared to typical
commercial products. Commercial products typically favor visible features (giving marketing advantage)
over harder-to measure qualities such as stability, security and similar less glamorous attributes. Open
Source Software developers are evidently motivated by many factors but favoring features over quality is
not noticeable amongst them. For many developers, peer review and acclaim is important, so it's likely that
they will prefer to build software that is admired by their peers. Highly prized factors are clean design,
reliability and maintainability, with adherence to standards and shared community values preeminent.

23
 Chapter: 05

Limitation Using of Open Source Operating System

The main disadvantage of open-source software is not being straightforward to use. Open-source operating
systems like Linux cannot be learned in a day. They require effort and possibly training from your side
before you are able to master them. A person may need to hire a trained person to make things easier, but
this will incur additional costs.

There is a shortage of applications that run both on open source and proprietary software; therefore,
switching to an open-source platform involves a compatibility analysis of all the other software used that
run on proprietary platforms. In addition, there are many ongoing parallel developments on open source
software. This creates confusion on what functionalities are present in which versions.

Lastly, many of the latest hardware are incompatible to the open-

source platform; so you have to rely on third-party drivers.

The decision of adopting open-source software should not be taken

just on the basis of the low-cost involved. It entails a detailed analysis
and understanding of the requirements before switching to open source to get
full benefits of it.

Some limitation or disadvantages shortly or briefly about open source operating systems which we
mentioned

Because there is no requirement to create a commercial product that will sell and generate money,
open source software can tend to evolve more in line with developers wishes than the needs of the
end user.
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 For the same reason, they can be less user-friendly and easy to use because less attention is paid to
developing the user interface.

There may also be less support available for when things go wrong open source software tends to
rely on its community of users to respond to and fix problems.

Although the open source software itself mostly free, there may still be some indirect costs involved,
such as paying for external support.

Although having an open system means that there are many people identifying bugs and fixing them,
it also means that malicious users can potentially view it and exploit any vulnerabilities.

Most open source software applications are not reliable.

No guarantee of updates. Since, you are not paying for the open source software nobody is bound to
give you regular updates. You can get stuck with the same old version for years without ever getting
an update.

To summarize open source has its own advantages and disadvantages. Using an open source product may
be very useful in particular situations, but in order to happen so one should understand its advantages and
disadvantages compared commercial version of it.

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