Free your business from burdensome licensing fees
Switching to robust and secure desktop, laptop and server operating systems such as Linux and OpenBSD that have zero licensing fees can have a number of other benefits besides the saving on license fess. These benefits include improved security, quality, customizability, standards compliance and auditability.
Security
Because, by very definition, the source code is publicly available, it is open to anyone to check for security vulnerabilities. Any security vulnerabilities are normally quickly identified and rectified with Open-Source Software (OSS), whereas, with proprietary software relatively few people have access to the source code and it is generally not in the best interests of the vendor to divulge any security weaknesses of their system - they tend to stay hidden until they are accidentally discovered by users or actively discovered by crackers. Proprietary software can also contain hidden back-doors into your system, whereas OSS cannot hide anything.
Quality
Because OSS projects tend to attract many developers and the best code contributions are normally accepted, the quality of OSS tends to be higher than proprietary software projects which normally only have a handful of developers contributing to the code base. Because OSS developers are normally users of their own software, it tends to be closer to what users want as opposed to proprietary software that is often more aligned to what the marketing department of the vendor wants.
Customizing to your company's needs
A proprietary software vendor is unlikely to customize their software to your company's needs. Because you have complete access to the source code of open-source software, anything is possible in terms of customizing it to suit your exact needs.
Open Standards
Open-source software tends to adhere very closely to open standards since it is in the best interests of the open source community to make sure that the systems they write are open and easy to interface to other systems. Using open standards makes it a lot easier to switch from using one system to another. Proprietary vendors, on the other hand, very often use proprietary data formats and protocols to lock their customers into dependence on their software solutions.
Auditability
With proprietary software, you have to take the vendor's word that their software is secure and fully complies with all your legal and technical requirements. Open-source software is open to full scrutiny and is 100% auditable.
Accountability
The common perception is that there is nobody who is ultimately accountable for open source software and that the user carries all the risk, whereas with proprietary software you can have a warm fuzzy feeling that there is always someone you can sue if something goes wrong. But the reality is that the EULA (End User Licence Agreement) for most commercial software absolves the vendor from any liability and places all the risk on the user. So, proprietary software is no better than OSS in this respect.
Support
Most proprietary software licenses do not include support - these are extra services that are charged for. Naturally, open source software licenses do not contain support agreements, but there are normally active and vibrant forums where developers and users provide free support. If that is not comforting enough, then there are numerous companies that specialise in providing support for OSS. Because they rely on service as their only source of income, they are normally diligent to provide a high level of service to attract and retain their customers.
Please visit linuxperth.com.au for more information and resources on liberating your business computing environment.
Switching to robust and secure desktop, laptop and server operating systems such as Linux and OpenBSD that have zero licensing fees can have a number of other benefits besides the saving on license fess. These benefits include improved security, quality, customizability, standards compliance and auditability.
Security
Because, by very definition, the source code is publicly available, it is open to anyone to check for security vulnerabilities. Any security vulnerabilities are normally quickly identified and rectified with Open-Source Software (OSS), whereas, with proprietary software relatively few people have access to the source code and it is generally not in the best interests of the vendor to divulge any security weaknesses of their system - they tend to stay hidden until they are accidentally discovered by users or actively discovered by crackers. Proprietary software can also contain hidden back-doors into your system, whereas OSS cannot hide anything.
Quality
Because OSS projects tend to attract many developers and the best code contributions are normally accepted, the quality of OSS tends to be higher than proprietary software projects which normally only have a handful of developers contributing to the code base. Because OSS developers are normally users of their own software, it tends to be closer to what users want as opposed to proprietary software that is often more aligned to what the marketing department of the vendor wants.
Customizing to your company's needs
A proprietary software vendor is unlikely to customize their software to your company's needs. Because you have complete access to the source code of open-source software, anything is possible in terms of customizing it to suit your exact needs.
Open Standards
Open-source software tends to adhere very closely to open standards since it is in the best interests of the open source community to make sure that the systems they write are open and easy to interface to other systems. Using open standards makes it a lot easier to switch from using one system to another. Proprietary vendors, on the other hand, very often use proprietary data formats and protocols to lock their customers into dependence on their software solutions.
Auditability
With proprietary software, you have to take the vendor's word that their software is secure and fully complies with all your legal and technical requirements. Open-source software is open to full scrutiny and is 100% auditable.
Accountability
The common perception is that there is nobody who is ultimately accountable for open source software and that the user carries all the risk, whereas with proprietary software you can have a warm fuzzy feeling that there is always someone you can sue if something goes wrong. But the reality is that the EULA (End User Licence Agreement) for most commercial software absolves the vendor from any liability and places all the risk on the user. So, proprietary software is no better than OSS in this respect.
Support
Most proprietary software licenses do not include support - these are extra services that are charged for. Naturally, open source software licenses do not contain support agreements, but there are normally active and vibrant forums where developers and users provide free support. If that is not comforting enough, then there are numerous companies that specialise in providing support for OSS. Because they rely on service as their only source of income, they are normally diligent to provide a high level of service to attract and retain their customers.
Please visit linuxperth.com.au for more information and resources on liberating your business computing environment.
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