为什么开源对于数据分析很重要？
开源
![](/data/attachment/album/202305/06/093906f63kjevj5t6fe06m.png)



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> 开源对于数据分析非常重要，它能为用户、社区成员和公司带来长远利益。
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我曾经写过介绍 Cube 社区的文章，至今已过去了一年多。随着和社区会员以及其他供应商在一起工作，我更坚信开源对于数据分析工作是很有好处的。我也认为，需要不断思考开源为什么重要，以及开源是如何为人们带来长远利益的。


### 开源对于用户和客户的好处


我从 Cube 社区听说的第一件事就是：他们经常可以从与其他社区成员的交流中得到技术支持，这种支持往往好于使用需要付费的专有软件获得的支持。在很多开源社区中，我发现，社区成员很乐意帮助别人（特别是帮助新手），并且把这种帮助看作回报开源社区的方式。


在开源社区，你不需要获得许可就可以加入。一个好的开源社区不但服务于开发者，而且令人们感觉到有一种信任的文化，认为与他人在聊天室、论坛和问题跟踪工具进行开放式讨论是一件愉快的事。这对于诸如数据工程师或数据分析师之类的非开发者来说也很重要。


当然，借助开源软件，还可以直接查看代码、修复错误或为项目添加新功能。以 Cube 社区为例，对于 GraphQL 的支持就是我们去年的亮点，我们的社区成员为项目 [贡献了这些功能](https://github.com/cube-js/cube.js/pull/3555)。


对一个活跃的社区来说，也是很有好处的。即使当供应商不能及时地发布修复版本，你仍然可以自行修改，并可以在等待官方修复版的这段时间内使用修改后的版本。社区成员和用户也不愿意被供应商的奇思妙想所束缚，而且使用开源软件时也不存在升级的压力。


开源社区在 GitLab、GitHub、Codeberg、YouTube 等各种地方留下了很多“面包屑”，这令衡量活跃程度和社区参与度更容易，也可以衡量社区参与和文化的水平。所以，即使在试用软件前，你也可以在做决定之前了解到它的社区（以及公司）的一些情况。


### 开源对公司的好处


没有其他办法比开源更能降低使用软件的障碍了。在早期，开源可以提高技术受众的认知度。早期的使用者往往后来会成为你的最忠实的粉丝。


早期的使用者也是加速产品发展的催化剂。他们对于产品的反馈和功能需求（例如对问题的追踪）能实现对真实用例的洞察。另外，很多开源爱好者可以合作开发（比如通过代码仓库）新功能和进行 BUG 修复。不用说，这对于创业早期的公司来说是很重要的，因为当时缺少开发和产品相关的资源。


你对社区的关注会令它发展壮大，并且呈现多样化趋势。多样化不仅体现在人数和地域方面。你需要来自新兴行业的用户或从事各种职业的用户。以 Cube 社区为例，在一年前我常常会跟一些开发者交流，但一年后与我交流得更多的是那些数据使用者和用户。


在良好的开源社区里，合作文化降低了准入门槛，不仅对于开发者，对于其他提问者、分享观点者或愿意作出非技术性贡献的人们来说都是如此。随着公司和社区的发展，你可以更好地接触到不同的观点。


对包括社区成员在内的广大人群来说，开源使合作变得更容易。例如，你需要跟其他贡献者在同一个数据库驱动或集成上进行合作，如果可以通过开源仓库进行合作，就很方便了。


### 关于社区


以上这些好处都降低了使用软件和协作开发的门槛。开源模型不仅对单个软件或公司有帮助，它还能令整个生态和行业加速发展。我希望在数据分析领域看到更多开源的公司和社区，同时希望人们持续关注开源产品。


*（题图：MJ/50a877f5-e0e1-4f66-91bf-f1f60b4a9023）*




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via: <https://opensource.com/article/22/9/open-source-data-analytics>


作者：[Ray Paik](https://opensource.com/users/rpaik) 选题：[lkxed](https://github.com/lkxed) 译者：[cool-summer-021](https://github.com/cool-summer-021) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出


OK
It's been a little over a year since I wrote my article on Opensource.com, [introducing the Cube community](https://opensource.com/article/21/6/cubejs). As I worked with our community members and other vendors, I've become more convinced of the benefits of open source in data analytics. I also think it's good to remind ourselves periodically why open source matters and how it provides long-term benefits for everyone.

## Benefits of open source for users and customers

One of the first things I heard from the Cube community was that they often received better support in chat from other community members than they did with proprietary software and a paid support plan. Across many open source communities, I find people who are motivated to help other (especially new) community members and see it as a way of giving back to the community.

You don't need permission to participate in open source communities. A good open source community isn't for developers only, and people feel there's a culture of trust and feel comfortable enough to have open discussions on chat platforms, forums, and issue trackers. This is especially important for non-developers, such as data engineers or analysts in the data analytics space.

Of course, with open source software, there's the ability to see and contribute directly to the codebase to fix bugs or add new features. Using an example from the Cube community, GraphQL support was one of our highlights last year, and our community members [contributed to this feature](https://github.com/cube-js/cube.js/pull/3555).

There are plenty of benefits to an active community. Even in cases where the vendor cannot release a fix in a timely manner, you can still make the changes yourself and own the runtime while you wait for an "official" fix. Community members and users also don't like being locked in to a vendor's whims, and there's no pressure to upgrade when using open source software.

Open source communities leave many "bread crumbs" in different tools like GitLab, GitHub, Codeberg, YouTube, and so on, making it a lot easier to gauge not just the volume of activities but also the level of community engagement and culture. So even before trying out the software, you can get a good sense of the community's health (and, by extension, the company) before deciding if this is a technology you want to invest in.

**[ Related read How we track the community health of our open source project ]**


## Benefits of open source for the company

There's no better way to lower the barrier to adoption of your software than being open source. Early on, this helps grow adoption among the technical audience. Early adopters then often become some of your most loyal fans for years to come.

Early adopters are also catalysts for speeding up your development. Their feedback on your product and feature requests (for instance on your issue trackers) will provide insight into real-world use cases. In addition, many of the open source enthusiasts participate in co-development efforts (for example, on your repositories) for new features or bug fixes. Needless to say, this is precious for companies in the early days when there is a shortage of resources in development and product teams.

As you tend to your community, you will help it grow and diversify. Increased diversity isn't just in demographics or geography. You want users from new industries, or users with different job titles. Using the Cube community as an example, I mostly talked to application developers a year ago, but now I’m meeting with more people that are data consumers or users.

The collaborative culture in good open source communities lowers the barrier to entry not just for developers but also for others who want to ask questions, share their ideas or make other [non-technical contributions](https://opensource.com/article/22/8/non-code-contribution-powers-open-source). You get better access to diverse perspectives as your company and community grows.

Being open source makes it easy to collaborate with other vendors and communities, not just with individual community members. For example, if you want to work with another vendor on a database driver or integration, it's a lot simpler when you can just collaborate across open source repositories.

## Community matters

All these benefits lead to lowering the barriers to entry for using your software and collaboration. The open source model will not only help individual software or companies, but it can help accelerate the growth of our entire ecosystem and the industry. I hope to see more open source companies and communities in the data analytics space and for all of us to continue this journey.

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