Is Open Source really free ?

By: Chris Curtis

There exists a huge movement of people donating their time to produce software that anyone can download and use without a licence fee.

This phenomonen is often referred to as the Open Source movement.

Open source software covers such diverse areas as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, Telephony systems, Software development tools, database systems, Content Management Systems, and Operating Systems.

Why, you ask, would someone let others use the fruits of their labours for nothing?

Well the reasons are varied. Some people do it for the satisfaction of contributing to something global and successful or the genuine desire to use their skills to help others. Others see it as part of a valid business model. Some software companies give away their software and rely on consulting and support agreements for their income stream. Some hardware vendors release their software through open source channels to boost demand for their related hardware.

Most open source providers hope that people who find their software useful will make a donation to the cause, and many people do just that.

While Open Source software is free to acquire,  this software is often very sophisticated and requires careful setup of large numbers of parameters and considerable ongoing management. The people who produce the software are often very technically oriented and expect that the people using it will also be like them.

Generally speaking, open source software can often provide considerable cost savings for small/medium businesses, but business owners need to keep in mind that some kind of technical consulting for the setup and ongoing management of the system may be necessary.

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