Cost Efficiency | Stability | Flexibility | Freedom | Local Impact
Computers often crash due to bugs in the software they're running. Sometimes these bugs exist because the software is poorly written. Other times, the software is being used in an unintended way, or in an environment that is foreign or novel to the software, as in the case of hardware incompatibility. These bugs exist in all software.
Many eyes make problems shallow
One of the greatest strengths of OSS is that these bugs can be found and eliminated rapidly because the source code (where the bug is actually located) can be examined and improved by everyone and anyone.
The effect of this open ended peer-review process is that the software becomes far more stable and reliable, because it is frequently updated. While an individual using the software does not have to keep up with the speed of development, they will benefit from the quick turnover of new ideas, features, bug fixes and security patches.
Open and secure
This doesn't mean that security can be easily compromised; the technologies used in OSS to provide online security are tried-and-tested, and scrutinized by many. More security issues have arisen from proprietary vendors suppressing reports of their product's vulnerability to save face, rather than from a culture that encourages the speedy exposure and repair of problems.
