This essay will focus on one of the complex issues affecting society today: how to properly develop technology in general, and software specifically. Because of our rapid transition into technological change, we have not had time to pause and reflect on how software should be created. This paper will discuss problems with the current model of software development in North America, outline some concerns about the loss of freedom of individuals to large software manufacturers, and then offer a solution to these and other issues in the form of Open Source software. Open Source software is a radical alternative to these issues, it is software that comes with the source code - the components that make up an application. This allows users to repair, extend and reuse software to fit their needs more precisely.
This paper will also outline some concerns with the current trend of software patents and intellectual property rights with respect to the software industry. Again, it will clearly illustrate how the transition to Open Source software makes the concerns of intellectual property a moot point.
Finally, drawbacks of the Open Source model will also be discussed and clarification and solutions to these issues will be offered. For example, one of the key problems in making the transition from traditional proprietary software development to Open Source software development is the concern about loss of revenue from software sales. While this is an issue, this paper will help illustrate how, by rethinking the software model, many solutions to this potential loss of revenue can be discovered. These solutions not only offer new venues of revenue generation, but also offer a more honest and morally sound way for computer professionals to earn a living.