Contrary to what others think, open source is not a rival. Open source is supposed to make users happy (except when it doesn’t work).
No one is quite sure how to define fire, but everyone knows what is it. Open source software is the same. Like fire, we know what open source does, we know what open source looks like, and we know it when we see it, but no one agrees on a definition. About the one thing that has general agreement is that open source software is distributed with the source code freely available for alteration and customization… thus the word “open.”
While it’s hard to say what open source is, it’s easy to say what it’s not. It’s not proprietary, it’s not protected, it’s not expensive (often free), and it’s not usually supported by a single entity. Open source are those programs that are written by volunteers and made available for all to use, to modify, and to improve.
Those who are knowledgeable about software and programming are always asked if open source is “as good as” commercial products. It’s like asking if one breed of dog is better than another! The general consensus is that a well-written and well-supported open source program is as good if not better than a non-open source program. But not all open source programs are well written, nor well supported. Like the commercial world, there are good products, great products, and, of course, terrible products.
So what is out there for your business in the open source world? First of all, most open source programs are utilitarian in nature, such as databases, security tools, programming languages, networking utilities, and file sharing programs. That said, there are more and more business and financial packages starting to appear in open source.
There is a huge amount of very good, high performance, feature rich software out there in the open source world free for anyone to use. Before you spend hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars on a “name brand” system, you owe it to your company’s bottom line to check out what is available in open source and see if it will work for your operation.
-mgn
