I'm due to give a talk next month to a group new entrepreneurs and small business owners. I would like to introduce them to Linux and explain how they can benefit from the use of open source software.
Let's say that you rely on Program X to carry out your day-to-day business. Now assume that something about your business changes, and Program X no longer does exactly what you need it to do. You need to change the way Program X functions. If your supplier for Program X anticipated your needs, then the cost of making the change is relatively small, since you only need to change Program X's configuration. But what if Program X doesn't already have the ability to do what you want? You need a custom change. How much will that cost?
If Program X is proprietary software, the cost of changing it depends on the program's vendor. If the vendor cooperates with you to get you the changes you need in a reasonable amount of time at a reasonable cost, then your costs are relatively little. However, if the vendor does not cooperate -- such as if they demand that you first "upgrade" to Program Y (which requires new hardware, a new proprietary operating system, etc) or if you are simply too small for them to care about your specific needs -- then the cost of changing Program X skyrockets: You have to hire one or more expensive genius-programmers to reverse-engineer Program X and implement your changes, or you have to hire someone to re-implement large portions of Program X from scratch, or maybe you just can't afford it and you go out of business.
With free software, free-market economics govern the cost of changing Program X to your specifications: You can hire anyone you want to change Program X, and there is no point where an uncooperative vendor causes
your costs to skyrocket. You also get to maximize the value of your existing information infrastructure, since you have the ability to weigh the cost of maintaining your existing software/hardware against the cost of converting to new software/hardware. Also, since all of your programs and data formats are open, the cost of converting to new software/hardware is similarly governed by free-market economics.
Probably the main advantage of free software is the freedom, and the cost-normalizing effect that this freedom has. Free software is governed by free-market economics. Proprietary software, where every vendor has a monopoly on its software, is governed by monopoly economics.
What kind of economics do you think are better for you, the consumer?
-- Dwayne C. Litzenberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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