Anotações:
- Let review each one of the factors that contribute for OS robustness in terms of open and closed source. We can think in Linux and Windows as the best representative of each filed.
(click rato)
1.- Fast bugs detection
In closed source operating systems bugs are quick detected, since the number of users are usually big.
In open source the bugs are also quick detected because although that are a minor number of users, they are usually more active. (click rato)
2.- Bug reporting
In open source, users provide good bugs reports since they have a kind of “relation of trust” with the developers. So, they fill more obliged to contribute. There is also other reason that is the users usually are more technical and they can provide a more accurate report of the OS flaw.
Closed source OS users provide worst bug reporting since they already had paid for the product they don't feel in the need of helping the developer team(click rato)
3.- Quick issue of patches
SecurityPortal accounted that Red Hat (Linux Vendor) take in average 11 days to respond with a patch to a discovered bug, in contrast with Microsoft that take 16,1 days ans Sun that take 90 days.
The reasons have to do with the fact that there are several different teams responsible by Linux services. One for the kernel, but others for the INETD, DNS, Webserver, editors,... So the bugs are therefore solved by different devolopers. Closed-source OS use they own software in the core services of the operating system and then suffer from the overhead of manage all problems that occur.
There is other reason related with the fact that sometimes, the user submit the bug report and... the correction at the same time.(click rato)
4- solid development
It is a tricky matter to try to evaluate teams in those so different environments. There is a book “The Cathedral and the bazaar” from Eric Raymond that argues that the Linux decentralized method is powerful even for huge software projects. Programmers are skillful, motivated and well organized.
But enterprise development teams are nowadays also very well prepared and with good tools for collaborative work. Closed source has in this sense also a solid development environment.(click rato)
5 – Good Architectural design
The structural design of the operating systems are most of the times dictated by historical reasons (related with legacy) and not by rigorous evaluation of the best option.
Since Linux are in so different markets (desktop, server and embedded) the overall structure is the one that best fit all of them: monolithic kernel with module loading at run-time (See Linus Vs Tanenbaum discussion about that)). Nevertheless it could be optimized for some kind of applications (for instance, an embedded multimedia device).
By the other hand, closed-source software most of the times has to assure compatibility with legacy systems an the optimal overall design is not taken in account.