In a recent article discussing the possibility of the open-source phone groups collaborating, it was mentioned that some people are nervous about relying on open-source. To quote from the article:

The concern is that open-source initiatives “are a rattly ship, [where] there’s no control over where these platforms are going,” Burden says.

I have to disagree. With a piece of closed-source software, if the developers decide to abandon the project or the supporting company goes out of business or the developers decide to take a different direction, you are stuck. The best thing you can do is find a new solution or stick with the current version for as long as you can. These situations are not just theoretical, they really happen. Plenty of work has been lost into applications that stopped being developed. The work put into those applications could have been continued if the code had been open, but it was not.

With open-source software, on the other hand, you have complete control over what happens to the project. If the developers move on or change direction, the code is right there for you or someone else to pick up. That way, even if one company or group decides that a particular project is not worth pursuing, others who do think the project is worthwhile can continue it.

Getting back to the quote, if the exact same thing had been said about closed-source software, it would have been completely true. With open-source software, though, it is simply not the case.

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