Why source code matters...

By John Locke on March 14, 2005

Over in Boston, not having clear ownership rights to the source code installed to manage traffic in the systems put in place in The Big Dig has cost the project an extra $10 million dollars, when the original vendor took them to court. Open Source licenses completely avoid these types of issues, because you, as the user of the software, have the right to share, extend, and redistribute the code without paying additional fees. Read more at: Software Ownership Battle Adds $10M to Cost of 'Big Dig' - Computerworld.

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About the Author

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John Locke is the lead developer and founder of Freelock, LLC. In addition to being a proficient web developer, he is an experienced technical writer, network administrator, and all around problem solver. He has worked with computers since 1984, and currently advises small businesses on open source software.