Open source makes sense in an economic downturn because:
1. It's less expensive. Notice I didn't say free. One thing we've learned over the last couple years is open source might be free to acquire but requires service contracts and maintenance just like any other piece of software. But on a nose to nose basis, open source comes without many of the encumbering license fees and upfront costs that drag down the proprietary bunch.
2. Open source has put on a suit. Real companies (Red Hat, etc) have been formed around the open source banner and you can get real support and services. There is substantial open source expertise widely available. No longer do you have to bet your company's future on one Birkenstock, World of Warcrafter who may or may not show up for work.
3. Open source has learned to play nice with your old apps. The biggest hurdle in the past for business was integrating open source operating systems and open source databases in particular with your existing systems and applications. Again, there have been many companies formed around the business of building integration suites and that hurdle has been cut down to about six inches in height.
4. There are good open source alternatives to some of the best new technologies including virtualization, databases, business applications and even the old favorite, personal computer operating systems.
5. In the upside to the downside category, out of work programmers, business analysts and software developers can now quickly tap into cloud computing platforms such as Amazon's elastic cloud to build new open source applications and companies without having to go begging to venture capitalists who have firmly closed their wallets.
1. It's less expensive. Notice I didn't say free. One thing we've learned over the last couple years is open source might be free to acquire but requires service contracts and maintenance just like any other piece of software. But on a nose to nose basis, open source comes without many of the encumbering license fees and upfront costs that drag down the proprietary bunch.
2. Open source has put on a suit. Real companies (Red Hat, etc) have been formed around the open source banner and you can get real support and services. There is substantial open source expertise widely available. No longer do you have to bet your company's future on one Birkenstock, World of Warcrafter who may or may not show up for work.
3. Open source has learned to play nice with your old apps. The biggest hurdle in the past for business was integrating open source operating systems and open source databases in particular with your existing systems and applications. Again, there have been many companies formed around the business of building integration suites and that hurdle has been cut down to about six inches in height.
4. There are good open source alternatives to some of the best new technologies including virtualization, databases, business applications and even the old favorite, personal computer operating systems.
5. In the upside to the downside category, out of work programmers, business analysts and software developers can now quickly tap into cloud computing platforms such as Amazon's elastic cloud to build new open source applications and companies without having to go begging to venture capitalists who have firmly closed their wallets.
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