Hooray for the geeks who stop big firms charging the earth

The internet age has spawned a proliferation of liberally minded cyber hippies, libertarians and hacker-geeks who believe nasty mega corporations shouldn’t be able to control everything and charge the earth in licences and fees.

Open Source Software, as a movement, emerged in the late 1990s with the principles laid out by the Open Source Initiative, based in California in the USA.

Without so-called Open Source Software, the cost of all kinds of programmes would be a burden on small businesses and consumers alike.

But the range of programmes covered by Open Source is much wider than just word processing distributed by the likes of Open Office.

Free to use software includes programmes to manage finances, store data, manage customer relations, carry out surveys and do all sorts of things on the internet. Access to the source code gives businesses the opportunity to develop the software for their own uses.

But there are issues to consider. Government help organisation Business Link says most open source solutions lack the customer support and legal protection provided by proprietary software.

So, although there is little or no upfront cost to getting the software, businesses have to consider budgeting for support, training, and in the case of more complex applications, consultancy.

It is certainly true that licence management issues are made simpler by open source solutions. Just download software once and install it as many times and in as many places as is needed.

But it doesn’t mean there aren’t licences to comply with, and these will have the same legal force as with proprietary software licences.

It’s also important to read licences carefully, as there are many different open source ones, with as many different requirements.

It’s also important for firms to consider training and support and not to forget the existence of free online communities.

Some well known IT providers like Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and HP offer open source support, as well as providing tools for integrating open source with their own proprietary solutions.

Remembering the fundamental law of nature that says there is no such thing as a free lunch isn’t a bad rule to remember.

Some developers allow users to obtain the software for free, but then charge for support. Other providers do not offer support at all, which needs to be considered.

Business Link says if something does go wrong with a less popular application, finding an IT specialist with experience of using the software can be difficult and also costly.

It may be worth considering appointing an IT consultant who has experience of the software package being used. Recommendations can be sought from other businesses through the software’s community support group (if there is one).

And Business Link also suggests contacting a university or higher education establishment for advice on consultancy because many of them make use of open source software.

Companies will also need to consider what level of training is necessary for employees.

Some businesses develop their own in-house support and training for open source software because this can be less costly in the long term.

Once the basic issues have been resolved, the next issue will be where to find the software and which solutions to go for. There’s loads of it out there, and time will have to be invested in detailed research.

There are many sites where people can visit for lists of applications. One of these is called SourceForge.

There is no guarantee of quality but Business Link’s online advice includes looking for software with a lot of users, as there’ll be a large community that can provide help and support.

Popular software also makes it likely that there will be commercial support and training services.

Before downloading and installing that perfect packet of software, firms will need to check on the internet for reviews and to get an idea of what other people think about it. The software might have its own website, which could be well worth investigating.

> The Business Link website can be visited here: www.businesslink.gov.uk