There are many benefits to open-source operating systems, including a
community of interested (and usually unpaid) programmers who contribute
to the code by helping to debug it, analyze it, provide support, and suggest
changes. Arguably, open-source code is more secure than closed-source code
because many more eyes are viewing the code. Certainly, open-source code has
bugs, but open-source advocates argue that bugs tend to be found and fixed
faster owing to the number of people using and viewing the code. Companies
that earn revenue from selling their programs often hesitate to open-source
their code, but Red Hat and a myriad of other companies are doing just that
and showing that commercial companies benefit, rather than suffer, when they
open-source their code. Revenue can be generated through support contracts
and the sale of hardware on which the software runs, for example