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Open source cloud computing uses open source software to enable cloud computing, providing users with virtual servers for data storage and real-time services. This technology can benefit poorer communities and developing countries by providing cheap, flexible processing. Open source software makes cloud computing more accessible and less hardware-bound, reducing inequalities in the digital divide.
Open source cloud computing is the use of open source software to facilitate cloud computing. Cloud computing provides users with access to a virtual server that allows them to store and retrieve data as well as use real-time services across a number of different devices including computers, smartphones and tablets. The term “open source” refers to technology that has less restrictive commercial licenses, so products can be used and modified by an unlimited number of people. In the late 1990s, a movement in information and technology began to give computer users access to source code, so they could use and make changes to existing software. This movement was seen as an egalitarian way to give consumers more control over the products they were using and to help level the playing field for poorer communities and developing countries.
Open source cloud computing can further benefit these communities. Cloud computing handles very large volumes of traffic and storage relatively cheaply as it requires little hardware to maintain. Furthermore, it is a very flexible form of processing. It is structured to serve multiple users simultaneously and its resources can be allocated as needed based on the location of the consumer.
In June 2011, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced iCloud, the latest in a series of cloud computing developments for the company, which allows its customers to store their data on a virtual network and access it from any device Apple. As this development indicates, consumers will be less hardware-bound and increasingly able to access data from the virtual realm. Cloud computing has many advantages, but if this technology is only operated by a few companies, it will become an inaccessible system for some consumers. Open source cloud computing advocates want to make the technology available to more people in order to work towards eliminating inequalities in the digital divide.
Open source cloud computing makes the service more accessible to more people. More and more companies and individuals are using open source software to launch their cloud networks, and open source software makes the technology more likely to spread. Open source cloud computing, while it may have some teething problems, can ultimately benefit the consumer. As the technology takes hold, it will allow designers to experiment more with the technology and find ways to make it stronger. Being able to use less constrained products will help speed this process, because it will allow more designers to independently test their cloud systems.
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