Jim, Help educate them on why free/open source software and open standards should be part of their selection criteria. If it's a web application, then open standards should be an easy sell as it will help them reach the broadest audience. Free/open source software can:
* help them avoid vendor lock-in; * allow them to customize the software by hiring internal staff or external resources; and * let them share the burden of maintenance across a bigger group. If they pay for something to be custom developed then they can (and should) license the code to be used by other organizations with similar needs. There is no cost to them, only the upside of helping others. This can only be done if they insist on an free/open source license (or copyright transfer) from their vendor. Hope this helps! Thanks, Bradley On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 2:22 PM, Jim Carroll <[email protected]> wrote: >>>I encourage everyone to stop thinking about cost >> and start focusing on freedom :-) >> >> I like that. >> - balu > > I like it too... > > but > > could you phrase that in a way that would help me 'sell' it to a town > committee that's looking for the best, most sustainable option, and > has plenty of grant money to spend on a good solution, free or not? > -- http://bradley-holt.blogspot.com/
