Open-source web software, or software whose code is freely available for people to use or modify, has become a big part of the web development industry over the years, easing the workload and cost on developers such as students trying to understand how the big players do it, to big companies wishing to save money on hefty license fees.

From forum software, allowing you to constantly argue about the latest episode of “Heroes”, to blog software where you bag out the declining writing of “Heroes” and even content management systems, allowing you to build a whole site about how much you hate “Heroes”, you are not limited in your choices of software.

But it is important to ask yourself the following questions when looking at any freely available open-source web software before downloading it and using it for your own projects, and doing so may save you a lot of stress and frustration.

Does it do what I need it to do?

All too often, people will download a piece of open-source software that comes highly recommended by peers or experts, and will spend large amounts of time trying to get the software to do what they needed it to do, and usually fail in doing so.

When on the hunt for software, grab a piece of paper (or open up a Notepad document if you don’t believe in writing) and just jot down the major pieces of functionality that you require. Then shop around Google, read review sites and compare software to each other to find the best software which covers all of the functionality that you require and nothing more.

It is always best to go for the software that does everything that you require ‘out-of-the-box’, instead of the software that does half of what you want and then requires add-ons or modules to do the rest. That way, you can be sure that the functionality you require is constantly supported by patches and updates.

Is it well-supported?

Support for open-source software usually comes in the form of a community. A core group of developers will create the software, then release it to the community to test for bugs and security errors.

In most cases, the software with large communities of developers and testers will mature quickly, bugs are squashed quicker and more people are on hand to help out with any issues you have, whereas a smaller community may mean bugs and issues are left undiscovered or un-patched for longer and questions you have may remain un-answered for longer.

Is it safe to use?

One of the disadvantages of open-source software is that because it is freely available to everyone, there will be those out there that would read each line of code thoroughly for vulnerabilities.

Before using any open-source software, it is always recommended to make sure you are using the latest version and check that there are no reported security issues. Some developers tend to hide discovered security issues to prevent malicious users from exploiting the vulnerabilities, so it is also recommended to check out 3rd-party security advisories such as ]Secunia for any vulnerabilities which may not have yet been revealed.

Is it easily customisable?

Open-source software is great for branching out in to new areas, like adding a gallery to your blog or a music player (please, no auto-playing music!). Most open-source software is built for extendibility, provided in the form of ‘add-ons’ or ‘modules’ that you simply download, install and use immediately.

If you must create your own new functionality, it is always good to check if the software developer provides good documentation on the functionality. This can come in the form of well-written comments in the code, or a ‘developers area’ on the software developers website.

Conclusion

If you are very careful in selecting open-source software for use on your website, then you can set up a site fast and without hassle. There’s a lot of good and bad software out there, so always read up about the software and the community behind it and always test out the software before committing to it.