What are Open Standards and its Various Elements?

What is Open Source?

Something which we can modify owing to its public accessibility is called open source. The term open source originated in the context of software development and it basically means open exchange, collaborative participation, and community-oriented development.

The common misconception associated with open source is that it refers to something free of charge whereas the implications of open source are not only economic.

Now, what are Open Standards?

The set of rules or guidelines that are used to keep technologies open are known as Open Standards.

According to Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU-T), Open Standards are the standards made available to general public and are developed as well as maintained through a collaborative and consensus-driven method.

It facilitates interoperability and exchange of data among various products or services and are intended for universal adoption.

Various elements of Open Standards

Here are some of the elements of Open Standards:

Collaborative development

The development process is voluntary or market-driven as well as consensus driven which is open to all the interested parties.

Reasonably balanced process

The standards ensure that the process is not dominated by interests of any one group.

Due process

The Standard Development Organization (SDO) makes sure that it includes the considerations of interested parties and also responds to their comments.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)

IPRs are necessary to implement the standard for licensing to worldwide applicants on a non-discriminatory basis. It could be either free or may include monetary compensation under reasonable terms and conditions.

Ongoing support

Open source software is maintained and supported for a longer period of time.

Why people prefer open source software?

Software development specialists prefer open source software over proprietary ones because:

• They can have more control on open source software as they can examine the source code.
  
• It helps them become a better programmer as even students can access them.
  
• It is secure as loopholes left by the original authors are often spotted by the diligent developers in the community.
  
• It is considered more stable for long-term projects as developers are sure that their tools won’t disappear.
  

Now it’s your turn

Do you prefer proprietary software for your project or open source software? Let’s begin a conversation; don’t forget to leave your comments below.