Open sourcing and crowd sourcing are the latest trends in the software development industry. Though both terms look similar, there is a key difference between open source and crowd source.

Open source is built based on four key pillars, namely, free to use, study, modify, and distribute the software for any purpose. It creates multiple custom software versions. The best well-known example is multiple flavors of the UNIX operating system and Android mobile platform. Open by rule is the theme of the open source culture. Every community member is not allowed to exploit the others.

Crowd sourcing is built based on the marginal interest as well as free time of a large group of people to build an application. This culture benefits the initiator typically without any significant compensation to the participants. In fact, intellectual property and distribution rights are completely owned by the initiator. OpenSignal is the best example of crowd sourcing of the world's wireless network.

Closed source is a complete contradiction to the open source and crowd source culture. It is sometimes referred to as the proprietary model. By design, closed source methodology is owned by an organization with in-house development to generate revenue for their business. Take a look at the following diagram:

The preceding illustration indicates the list of closed source and open source companies in the IT industry. Microsoft, Apple, and others are the major players among closed source companies, while Linux, Android, and others are prominent among open source companies.

Although Microsoft held an identity as a closed source company, it has switched over to the open source list in recent years. If you take a closer look at the statement made by the CEO of Microsoft, it reflects my words. On June 1, 2001, the ex-CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, said that Linux is a cancer, which attaches itself, in an intellectual property sense, to everything it touches. It was part of an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. In October 2014, the current CEO, Satya Nadella, delivered a contradicting note that Microsoft loves Linux, at a San Francisco media conference.

In the coming section, let us analyze the history of closed source and motivation for open source methods deployed in Microsoft.