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Commercial vs Open Source
Software
The most common approach to obtaining software
is by buying commercial software:
- You pay an initial charge for the software
- You pay a reduced charge for upgrades every 2-4
years or so
- Bug fixes and upgrades are done by the
software company
- Limited support is available free
- Additional support is sometimes available at
a cost
- Quality control is done internally by the
software company
An alternative has gained increasing prominence
in the last few years. Software is now being developed and distributed
under new 'Open Source' licensing terms which mean that it is free to use.
- There is no initial charge - except for
media and documentation
- Support is available at a charge from third
party organisations
- Bug fixes and upgrades are done by a
community of independent programmers, often unpaid.
- Quality control is done publicly by peer review
Relative merits of each approach:
Commercial Software
Advantages
 There
is a point of contact (a legal entity) for any problems
The development plans of the product may be reasonably well
defined
The commercial basis for using future versions of a product may
change
The right to use is clear - if you have a license then you have a
right to use.
Other claims by Commercial Software Proponents
which are not easily verified:
The software is more stable - requiring less maintenance
The
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is lower
Disadvantages
 There
is often no guarantee that it will work as intended
Evaluation of the software is often limited to 14 or 30 days
The
source code is private - if the company goes bust, or decides to stop developing
the product you must migrate to another software package
The software cannot be audited for security and other weaknesses.
The software may contain security and other weaknesses. A great deal of trust
must be placed in the software company.
Often you must monitor the number of users of the software to be
sure of having the right number of licences
Open Source Software
List of
some of the open source software available
Advantages
Important
bug fixes can be fixed quickly
The
software is free to evaluate for an unlimited period - so you can make sure the
software works as you require.
The software is often available on multiple platforms
The source code - essential to maintenance of the program - is
available publicly.
The software can be audited for security and other weaknesses.
Often no need to account for the copies in use.
Other claims by Open Source Proponents which
are not easily verified:
The
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is lower
The software is more stable
Fewer patches needed
Fewer susceptibilities to viruses and security breaches
Requires lower specification of hardware for same functionality -
extending hardware life
Disadvantages
There
is no guarantee that it will work as intended
You must establish whether the support for the product is
adequate for your company
The development plans of the product depend on the resource
available. This resource level varies.
The right to use is sometimes unclear - where a program is found
to contain some code which is not public you may not have the right to use it.
Must check
compatibility with de-facto standards (e.g. MS Office)
 Can
be more difficult to install
Links to Related Sites
Open
Source Initiative - a promoter of Open Source Software
Microsoft's Get The Facts Campaign - Microsoft's view of the Microsoft
Server vs. Linux debate
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