All software is built with source code. Open source means the code can be seen and changed. With this power comes control. In the proprietary model, development occurs within one company. Programmers write code, hide it behind binaries, charge customers to use the software--then charge them more to fix it when it breaks. No one ever has to know how bad the software really is. Bad software costs companies $78 billion per year, according to CIO Magazine.

The problem worsens when you become tied to a company's protocols and file formats. Then you're hooked. Bruce Perens calls this the addiction model of software procurement. Any model that puts customers at such a fundamental disadvantage is conceptually broken.
That's why open source is inevitable. It returns control to the customer. The code is open and you can see it, change it, learn from it. Bugs are more quickly found and fixed. And when customers don't like how one vendor is serving them, they can choose another without overhauling their infrastructure. That means: No more arbitrary pricing. No more technology lock-in. No more monopolies.
And we believe open source simply creates better software. It multiplies one company's development capacity many times over. Everybody collaborates, the best software wins.

We at Synchroweb Technology has created , applied and use application that are both open and propriety will unchain that propriety dependency on single vendor via our solutions , consultancy and application suite for Linux an alternative platform for enterprise that provide unchallenged stability in IT and The most widely known open source software is the Linux operating system. Linux made up 25% of all server operating systems sold in 2001--#2 in the market--according to IDC. And the open source Apache web server is the #1 web server, holding 67% of the market, according to E-Soft.

Top 10 questions about moving to Open Source

1. What is Open Source software?
Free, Open Source software is built by people who think technology should be distributed without licensing fees. Open Source programs, such as the Linux, publish their source code for free so that anyone can use, modify and improve them. Learn more

2. Does moving Open Source software mean abandoning Windows?
Many IT decision makers believe that moving to Open Source means forcing their end users to adopt unfamiliar desktop software. But this is not true.

At Synchroweb we specialise in enabling organisations to gradually move their networks, email and internet connectivity to Open Source without forcing end users to change their Windows desktops. When the business case for a desktop migration is established, we use a proven migration methodology to ensure minimal disruption to your business operations.

3. But isn't Open Source the realm of the radical whose ideas limit software innovation?
There are estimated to be over 5 million registered Open Source developers globally. SourceForge.net, the world's largest Open Source development website, alone has over 950,000 registered users and over 90,000 registered projects (November 2004). By contrast there are thought to be only 500,000 commercial developers in the world.

Which group do you think produces the most innovative software? A community of 5 million motivated by a passion for technology or the half a million employees constrained by corporate interests and motivated by their monthly pay cheque?

Take web browsing. Open Source browsers such as Firefox introduced tabbed browsing and support for PNG images three years ago. Its only now, with the release of IE7, that Microsoft is catching up. Similarly, April 2005 saw the introduction of a 64-bit version of Windows, a full three years behind many Open Source operating systems.

4. Who will support my Open Source deployment?
The number of reputable companies providing quality technical support for Open Source is growing. Independent Open Source specialists such as Synchroweb provide technical support for a wide range of Open Source projects including Linux, Samba, LDAP, Iptables, Squid and DHCP.

5. What ‘real’ applications can I run on Open Source?
Ever heard of Oracle, Informix, and InterBase databases? How about Mozilla, Apache, OpenOffice, MySQL or StarOffice?

The Open Source community is building and porting applications at a pace that even the largest software vendors cannot match.

6. Who uses Open Source software?
Linux is believed to have up to 27 million users, with usage roughly doubling every year. The Netcraft web server survey records which web servers are used on the Internet. It consistently shows the Open Source Apache web server to have over 50% and steadily increasing market share, beating better-hyped proprietary products like Microsoft's server suites.

The Internet Operating System Counter collects data about operating system usage on the Internet in Europe. It consistently shows Linux is the most popular Internet-connected operating system.

Indirectly, everybody who sends email or uses the Web is using Open Source software all the time. The running gears of the Internet (its mail transports, web servers, and FTP servers) are almost all open-source.

7. Doesn't using 'closed source' software help protect against viruses?
No, security through obscurity just doesn't work. Vendors of 'closed source' applications compromise your security by:

Preventing programmers outside the business from finding holes and fixing them.
Making it harder to distribute trustworthy fixes when a hole is revealed.
Giving you a false sense of security.
The truth is that Open Source operating systems and applications are generally much more secure than their 'closed source' counterparts.

8. Is Open Source software easy to learn?
On the desktop we’ve found that Windows end-users quickly adopt Mozilla as their browser and e-mail system without need for rigorous retraining. The same is true of Open Office.

At the backend, many IT departments can already support Linux and Open Source software in-house - where there are UNIX or Mac skills there are Open Source skills.

9. Isn’t end-user retraining an obstacle when moving to Open Source?
No, at Synchroweb we have found that a gradual, staged migration to Open Source technologies enables our clients to overcome most retraining obstacles.

For example, if you migrate your file and print servers over to Open Source the only thing end users experience is improved network performance.

Alternatively, if you want to reduce your vulnerability to virus attack one of the first steps you can take is to deploy Mozilla on users desktops. Mozilla is an intuitive web browser and e-mail client that is similar to Microsoft offerings without the security vulnerabilities.

10. Can Open Source guarantee against future proofing?
The most exciting technology development is happening in the Open Source community. Far from discouraging innovation Open Source methodologies actively encourage innovation.

Open Source operating systems provided functionality for USB 2.0, Bluetooth, 802.11, well before Microsoft.

Technology giants such as IBM, Intel, AMD, SUN, Dell, Oracle, SAP, HP and SGI are all supporting, and investing large amounts of R&D in Open Source.

With Open Source, you are not locked into a proprietary view of the future, but have continually expanding options. The future becomes your choice - future proofing becomes unnecessary.

Contact Us for your open source needs