Technology | Open Source

Open source refers to the body of software that is created and maintained via the internet by a large global community of developers.

This public – or “open” – approach delivers significant benefits:

The success and power of open source is a phenomenon that can be attributed to the calibre of the developers attracted to the community – bright, self-motivated and disciplined. In a way it’s akin to the major scientific advances made throughout history within rigourous academic circles. The motivation of developers is pride and the goal of improving the complexity and efficiency of the code – motivations that are rarely high on the list of commercial software plans.

Imagine that some of the best developers in the world are the “watch-keepers” of software - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The result is code that is robust, innovative and flexible. Importantly, because it is in the public domain, it is also extremely low cost.

Who uses open source?

Because of the benefits it delivers, the uptake of open source source is wide-spread. To identify just a few:

ComActivity is built on open source

ComActivity adheres to an open source philosophy, and all ComActivity software is built on open standards, including: