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By now, most people have certainly heard of Open Source Software (OSS). Many people have a certain idea associated with OSS that it does not fit their business. Reasons for this are as numerous as they are unjustified: Open Source Software is free, so how good can it really be? People tend to extend this thinking with additional assumptions:

• Open Source Software has no support.

• I don't know any Open Source Software that is usable.

• Open Source Software is for Linux, and I don't know/use Linux.

The list just goes on. But in reality all of this is nothing more then FUD. The reality could not be more different:

• Most of the servers on the Internet run Open Source Software

• There are many companies that ONLY run Open Source Software

• Open Source Software can be as good or as bad as commercial software

• Many Open Source Software programs offer the software for free, but do offer commercial support

• Open Source Software is available for every operating system on the market

Here too, the list goes on.

For many commercial programs there is an OSS alternative. A very well known example of what is often seen as an alternative operating system is Linux.

Linux -or more accurately: GNU/Linux- is an operating system, much like Microsoft Windows or Apple's Mac OS X. Linux is based in the Open Source community and is inherently free to use. Some Linux distributions (projects that create a Linux version with a specific goal in mind, such as desktop or server use) will ask for a nominal fee, but this fee is not paid for the software itself. This fee goes towards specific developments, their infrastructure and -basically- to keep the project running.

Others are completely based on volunteer work. You will receive the same basic package (the Linux kernel) and the same functionality, but is have been packaged into a product without commercial support or office workers dedicated it.

I can hear the question that comes up in some of the readers minds: Why not go all the way open source if it is free?

Well, there are many answers, theories and schools of thought about this issue, hence the answers vary per person. My opinion is that at the time of this writing, there are many good - even great - Open Source solutions that can help make money. And THAT is what it is supposed to do: MAKE MONEY. If the product is free but a company needs to hire a specialist to keep it going, or the daily usability is bringing down efficiency, it will bring down the ROI.

As an example: You have a choice between a commercial product that costs $1000 (which seems ridiculously low), or an OSS product that is free. The financial lifetime of the product is 3 years. Assuming that the installation costs would be identical for both at $500, updates are free on the OSS product but would cost $250 per year (which seems ridiculously low as well) on the commercial product, this would come to a total picture over 3 years of: $500 for the OSS product and $2250 on the commercial product.

Even though the choice seems clear, when using the product daily it may appear that performing the same task on the commercial product takes 10 minutes, while the OSS product requires 30 minutes to perform the same task. Now, let's assume that there are 250 workable days in a year (52 weeks at 5 days, minus 10 for vacation or holiday).

Over 3 years, the OSS product needs 250 hours more to get the same result. At ac cost of $10 per hour, this is $2500. As you can see, this calculation brings the TCO of the seemingly cheaper product above the commercial product. Imagine if 10 employees would be using the software on daily bases...

The above example comes out in favor of the commercial package. Now lets look at an other example:

Your network needs a professional, full functionality firewall solution. You have looked into brand-name solutions and the one you find costs $5000. On the other hand, there is an open source solution available that does the exact same thing, for free plus the cost of hardware - any generic PC or server will do, so let's say $500.

Assuming again that installation costs are the same for both and that updates cost $250 annually for the commercial solution, yet are free on the OSS solution.

Once a router/firewall is installed and configured, there is hardly ever any need to make changes or interface with the machine. It is more of a 'set it and forget it' type of product.

So doing the math here, you will see straight away that the commercial product would cost $5750 over its lifespan, while the OSS product will cost $500. Even if the installation and maintenance (making changes afterwards) of the OSS product would be twice as expensive as the commercial product, the OSS product would still have a better ROI. 

In the latter case, the ROI easily allows for the implementation of a redundant pair of firewalls, which decreases the chance of being affected catastrophic failure. Putting redundancy in place is a best practice but is generally expensive. The OSS solution above allows for full redundancy and is still able to remain well below half of the cost of a non-redundant commercial product.

Obviously, the above figures are examples and there are many more factors that play a part in the ROI equation. However, the bigger picture becomes clear very fast: The most sensible solution cannot be said to be one or the other without looking at the situation that the solution is to be applied for.

Open Standards and Proprietary Methods

All over the world, in any part of society, standards are set and upheld to allow interaction. Language can be considered a standard, albeit local more then global. In the global marketplace that computers are weaved into, standards are both embraced and despised. Many companies use their own proprietary methods of doing things and they do so with incredible success. For example, look at Microsoft Office documents. Even though some smart companies have found ways to read the data contained in the MS proprietary format, none has been successful to fully utilize the functionality as MS does not allow companies access to their format without paying a hefty license fee.

For almost every proprietary format, an open standard can be found. There are even organizations who's meaning in life is to approve and register a standard and make it accessible to anyone who wants access.

The good part about open standards is that it gives the consumer a choice of the product to use. After all, the technology that is being used relies on an open standard, so when the product disappoints it is easy to change the product without changing the technology.

Interoperability is an other feature of open standards: When the product that you use adheres to an open standard, it is very easy to inter operate with other products that use the same standard. If your customers use a system that adheres to the same open standard that you use, it is very easy to exchange vital information between the systems. Customers will no longer have to call you for status information or new orders, but they can initiate new orders in their system and they will show up in yours. Similarly, you will be able to update order information in your own system, and the updated information will show up in theirs, seamlessly.

No matter how great a proprietary solution seems, always keep your eyes open for the 'open standards' version and see the differences. Look at all the messenger programs out there: AIM, Y! messenger, MSN Messenger, etc.. They cannot interact in despite of announcements from some giants that they will work together. But still they will not use an open standard. The 'open standard' for this is the XMPP protocol, also known as Jabber. and more seemingly small messenger networks are using this. One of them is Google Talk. Just consider that if you have a messenger account but you do not like the client program, you have a choice of downloading and using an other client programs that fits your needs and usage. Clients on all networks that support Jabber will be able to communicate with each other, with only extended features such as graphical smilies or file transfers limited to the client that they are using.

Skype is another great example of a technology that uses proprietary technology. Skype is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) client program with which you can make 'phone calls' over the Internet, like so many others before and after them. Skype has gotten big in a short time due to the call quality and easy of use. However, Skype is not expandable or inter operable. Skype uses its own proprietary method of connecting and making voice calls, which leaves the consumer with 1 choice: Either you use Skype or you don't.

The open standard for VoIP communications is called SIP and even though it has some drawbacks, is it used by almost every fortune 500 company in their phone system, it is used by companies like Vonage for their consumer offerings and even by Google Talk for their voice chat. Imagine, you have had a Google Talk account for a while and would like to hook it up to your phone. You can use an -unlocked- Vonage device and reconfigure it to make and receive calls from your regular phone to Google Talk users!

If you would like to play around with Open Source Software and open standards, it is easy to do. Download a 'Linux Live CD' at one of the locations below. A Live CD will allow you to start your computer from the CD and run the complete operating system from the CD without touching your local hard disk. Once you reboot and take the CD out of the tray, your computer will be back to normal. It is a great way of looking at new possibilities without the risk of loosing any information.

The disadvantage of a live CD is that it will be much slower then running it from your hard disk.

One of my favorite Live CD's for Linux beginners coming from Windows, is the one from Mepis at http://www.simplymepis.org, as it contains everything you need to run out of the box, including the alternative OS (Mepis Linux), an alternative to Microsoft Office (Open Office) and it comes with Skype pre-installed. While Mepis appreciates your support and hopes you will make a donation of purchase a CD, SimplyMepis is available as a free download as well.

Other great live CD's are:

Ubuntu at http://www.ubuntu.com (or the more Windows-like Kubuntu)

• PCLinuxOS at http://www.pclinuxos.com

• Slax at http://www.slax.org

• Knoppix at http://www.knoppix.com

There are plenty more out there, and most of them are free do download and free to use. A very nice list of all the different options can be found at http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php.Go ahead try one out today!