Benson Tim
R-Outcomes Ltd Abies Ltd UCL Institute of Health Informatics.
J Innov Health Inform. 2016 Jul 4;23(2):488-492. doi: 10.14236/jhi.v23i2.866.
Open source software (OSS) is becoming more fashionable in health and social care, although the ideas are not new. However progress has been slower than many had expected.
The purpose is to summarise the Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) paradigm in terms of what it is, how it impacts users and software engineers and how it can work as a business model in health and social care sectors.
Much of this paper is a synopsis of Eric Raymond's seminal book The Cathedral and the Bazaar, which was the first comprehensive description of the open source ecosystem, set out in three long essays. Direct quotes from the book are used liberally, without reference to specific passages. The first part contrasts open and closed source approaches to software development and support. The second part describes the culture and practices of the open source movement. The third part considers business models.
A key benefit of open source is that users can access and collaborate on improving the software if they wish. Closed source code may be regarded as a strategic business risk that that may be unacceptable if there is an open source alternative. The sharing culture of the open source movement fits well with that of health and social care.
开源软件（OSS）在卫生和社会护理领域正变得越来越流行，尽管这些理念并不新鲜。然而，其发展速度比许多人预期的要慢。
旨在从开源软件是什么、它如何影响用户和软件工程师以及它如何作为一种商业模式在卫生和社会护理领域发挥作用等方面，总结自由/开源软件（FLOSS）范式。
本文大部分内容是对埃里克·雷蒙德的开创性著作《大教堂与集市》的概述，该书是对开源生态系统的首次全面描述，分为三篇长篇论文。文中大量引用了该书的直接引语，未提及具体段落。第一部分对比了软件开发和支持中的开源与闭源方法。第二部分描述了开源运动的文化和实践。第三部分探讨了商业模式。
开源的一个关键优势在于，如果用户愿意，他们可以访问软件并参与改进。闭源代码可能被视为一种战略商业风险，如果有开源替代方案，这种风险可能是不可接受的。开源运动的共享文化与卫生和社会护理领域的文化非常契合。
