Provide a 5 pages analysis while answering the following question: Open-source Database and Proprietary Database. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required. The open-source database can be improved by the users, while it is only the manufacturer of the proprietary database that has the sole right to improve the software (Johnson, 1997). The open source database is usually free or could be bought with a very little price, while users of the proprietary database need to pay a substantial amount to be the rightful owners of the database software. The open-source database software can be redistributed without any limitations or restrictions, while the proprietary database software cannot be redistributed as they are bound by copyright laws. The open-source database gives the business, firms, and organization that use it the opportunity to effectively penetrate into the market and it also has a wider acceptance than the proprietary database considering the fact that it could be bought with little or no price. Manufacturers of the open-source database do less marketing or logistics services, while the manufacturers of the proprietary database have to do sufficient marketing services to promote their products. The technology behind the open-source database is more flexible than the proprietary database. There is no particular style of an open-source database as it could be customized by the user, while
there are a specific style and standard that the proprietary database has to conform to (Johnson, 1997). The proprietary database usually performs better and is more efficient than the open-source database. The proprietary database usually has sufficient memory to store data and enough storage for backups, while the open-source has limited memory to store data. The open-source database is quite easy to use, while the proprietary database needs some expertise to handle its functionality. The open-source is not as professional as the proprietary database (Johnson, 1997).
