Why Open Source Software May Not Be Right for Your Environment

Many organizations see tremendous value in open source software. Most open source solutions are available for free download, and organizations can customize the source code to meet specific needs. Because open source licensing schemes generally prohibit the addition of proprietary components, organizations are freed from vendor lock-in.

Open source software licenses encourage users to copy, redistribute and make improvements to the code, fostering a “community” paradigm that encourages voluntarily contributions. The goal of this cooperative movement is to reduce costs, speed the cycle of new releases and enhancements, and encourage innovation.

However, that model is also the downside of open source. Software needs to be audited and thoroughly tested to ensure that it’s secure, but the open source community generally doesn't do it. Nobody enjoys that kind of work, and nobody's getting paid to do it. Organizations that use open source software end up transferring the cost and burden of that effort onto their IT teams.

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The Myth of Stronger Security

There’s a persistent myth that open source is more secure than commercial applications because everybody can see the code. However, the opposite is actually true and well proven.

A major weakness of open source is the fact that many people can contribute to the source code. Some of the largest bugs and viruses out there right now could have been put into the source code intentionally. They work in a very obscure and malicious manner that doesn't seem to be objectively oriented to what that section of code was supposed to do.

Organizations that choose to go with an open source platform need to ensure that they have the resources to audit and test all of the packages they’re using. This can be cost-effective with large-scale deployment. But there need to be thousands of servers doing the same thing to justify the manpower needed to support and secure open source code.

Otherwise, it generally doesn’t make economic sense to pay people to audit, test and maintain open source. Although commercial applications aren’t free, they bring a level of stability and security that has tremendous value.

How DeSeMa Can Help

DeSeMa can help organizations determine whether there’s a financial gain in moving to open source. If not, we’ll recommend systems that will be cost-effective over time. We also have teams who are dedicated to rightsizing the environment and eliminating any unneeded applications, libraries, utilities or modules. The more compact the environment, the less effort required to maintain, audit and secure it.

Organizations that prefer to use open source, or have already invested time and effort in customizing open source software, can also turn to DeSeMa for help. We have large teams who do nothing but work with open source software, and can help build a CI/CD pipeline so that audits require less manpower. Our CI/CD pipelines allow full-stack testing on all components. Vulnerabilities and compatibility issues are caught long before the open source package goes into production.

Finally, we can help IT teams improve their management processes so that bugs and vulnerabilities are identified and mitigated quickly. We have automation tools that allow us to do a level of security investigation that typically isn’t performed on open source software.

Open source software seems like a good value — after all, the source code is free. But the labor cost of auditing, testing and maintaining that software has to be factored into the equation. Let DeSeMa help you determine if open source is right for your environment, and better manage and secure the open source code you already have in place.