<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> <h1><headline>...</headline></h1> <div class="pagetools-wrap"> <div class="articledetails"><byline>By Jonathan Oxer<br> Comment</byline><br> <date>July 25, 2005 - 10:09AM</date><br> </div> <!--articledetails--> </div> <!--id:pagetools-wrap--><bod> </bod> <p>The rise of Linux and other Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is having a generally overlooked side-effect: the decentralisation of software development, the strengthening of local software industries and the lowering of barriers to entry for smaller developers and support providers.</p> <p>Traditional software development is very centralised with teams of programmers working in close geographic proximity to create the end product. When combined with the secretive nature of traditional closed-source software businesses, this results in a knowledge vacuum outside the core development team that makes it very hard for even the development company to provide high-level support to customers.</p> <p>The development team acts as a "black box", producing a piece of software that is used by people all over the world but with no external visibility or accountability for how the software was put together. The knowledge of how the software works stays firmly sealed within the black box of the development team.</p> ...<br> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/soapbox/open-source-halts-ict-brain-drain/2005/07/25/1122143758973.html?oneclick=true";>http://www.smh.com.au/news/soapbox/open-source-halts-ict-brain-drain/2005/07/25/1122143758973.html?oneclick=true</a> </body> </html>