Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I use it because it is free

The Free part of open source is not just about not paying for the software (which can be pretty significant in some cases, but non consequential in other cases), it is also about freedom.
Are you going to be forever free to use Windows XP/Vista without having to change your infrastructure to accommodate that ?.
Even if windows and all its components are free (as in pirated or given to you, or included in the computer you purchased) once you commit to it, you are tied, you are almost forbidden to move your processes somewhere else because it may not be cost effective.

But in the free world of open source, you are free to choose between Apple's OS, any Linux distribution (Fedora, CentOS, RedHat, Susse, etc), any Unix flavor(Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, any BSD flavor, etc) without severely impacting your bottom line. And you are also free to make your business use open source as a tool, a platform, or as a foundation to your business IT requirements.

On the other hand, if you use a piece of software that contributes to your business bottom line and it is cost effective, it does not matter which platform it runs on, what matters is that it is doing what it was gotten for.

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