----- Original Message ----- From: "optimus" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 4:32 PM Subject: [plug] To open-source or not to open-source
> Hello pluggers! > > Is open-sourcing a software really the way to go in the future? Open source, as a whole is catching on here. There are Filipino companies today that are actually realizing the benefits of open source, even in traditionally proprietary platforms such as Windows. For example, I am about to purchase, for a client, a comprehensive HR/Timekeeping Windows based application, used by multinational companies, from a local vendor who has been around for ten years. Mature software companies realize that no matter how well you spec out a project, money is somehow lost in customization costs, meetings, lost opportunities in project delays, especially for difficult/anal clients. Their value proposition is a one-time fee for the software, source code and a one-month turnover/tutorial from the system architect. Thats it, then you can do whatever you want with the software. I feel this is a win-win situation since it saves the client the time and effort to internally develop a stable base product, at the same time having the flexibility to customize all aspects of the software without having to be dependent on their vendor. On the other end, it saves the vendor the effort involved with customization, deployment, maintenance costs and more importantly time...to develop the base product further or close more contracts etc... During the early days of my company, we allowed customization of our different software products, even if it took one year. As much as possible, we tried to protect database access, the source code and even the server setup routines, partly to control the stability of the application, but also to be able to lock the client into a maintenance agreement. After almost four years of doing this, we realized that a lot of manpower was spent maintaining existing software and it was taking time away from marketing, R&D as well as product development. This model works if you are a software reseller, however, if you write your own software, I feel it is better to focus on the base product. This is why we are also pushing source code purchase with our products if customization will take more than 30 man days. Some portions still remain proprietary such as integration mechanisms (binary or EXE), DLLs or shared libraries ".so" with core technical fucntionality, etc... which does not in any way limit our clients' ability to customize the application but also insures the investment we have made in our product is not resold/repackaged (and there are people out there with no integrity who are thick enough to do it) without our consent. To answer your question: IMHO open source is the way to go. > 2. A consulting firm develops software for a business entity using open-source > tools. Should the code be open-sourced? Most packages, APIs out there that are open-source require any derived works to be open-sourced. You just need to read the licensing carefully. There are exceptions like QT, Berkeley DB and other packages wherein you can actually pay the vendor to make your derived work proprietary. _ Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fully Searchable Archives With Friendly Web Interface at http://marc.free.net.ph To subscribe to the Linux Newbies' List: send "subscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
