Software Freedom

You may have heard terms such as 'software freedom' or 'free software', open source software and not be sure what these terms mean.

Once common misconception about "free" software is that it does not necessarily mean it costs nothing. This can be often confusing for people. Software Freedom refers to a basic right to choose between various software technologies without the licensing restrictions found in commercial software products today.

Imagine for a minute, what it must have been like when Mr Bill Gates suggested that he would not sell his software, but instead sell the "right' to use the software only. Commercial software is not owned by the purchaser. They are simply purchasing the right to use the software (usually exclusively tied to one user on one machine). It can be no coincidence that the free software foundation (FSF) was founded around the same time that the first MS-DOS (non-free) license arrangement was being worked out between Bill Gates and IBM.

Free Software, on the other hand, takes a more tradional view. Free software grants the user the unrestricted ability to copy, distribute, and share both the binary file and usually the source code as well. Open source software means that the actual code that makes the software work is openly available for anyone to view, or modify to suit whatever need maybe available.

Non-Free (Commercial Software) is propitiatory to the company or individual that created it.  As an organization you have to spend large fees to buy separate licenses to cover everyone at your workplace.  These costs quickly add up, effect your bottom line, and in turn drive up the cost you pass on to your clients.  If you are a government, non-profit, or educational institution, you have enough of a headache keeping you head above water, let alone having to pay ridiculous fees for software licenses.

Open source software is transparent, and easily peer reviewed by members of the community for errors, and security flaws. The community then fixes these problems which results in a more secure and robust product.  In contrast, commercial software hides the code and implementation details, and risks that bugs may not be uncovered until it is too late.  Most commercial software licenses (End User License Agreements (EULA) protect the software company from any such liabilities their software may have on your business.

Free Software is a great idea and has many advantages.  Open source software is typically safer and more secure, you know what your getting and can see how it works, and since their are no license restrictions, there can be significant cost savings.

Here are a few important things to keep in mind when choosing free/open source software

1) Support is likely little, or non-existent: Although open source software often works very well, is very robust, and therefore does not fail frequently.  Things can and do go wrong, and when you need something fixed, you can't just pick up the phone and call the 1-800 number and get a patch to fix your particular problem.  Most open source software is supported by the community, questions are answered by the community, but do not expect a rapid response time.  If you already have your own 'computer guy'  it's best to have him troubleshoot your problem in an emergency situation (and make sure you pay him really well!)

2) Their maybe very little manuals or documentation

Sadly, this is becoming true for most commercial software as well.  Often open source software manuals are made available, but not for free.  In fact, some proponents of free software argue that the business model for free software is on selling the manuals on how to use it. Not the software itself.  O'Reilly media is an excelling example of this model (and their books are really good)

3) You may not be able to use the software easily for commercial ventures

So here's the deal, most free software does in fact come with a license. Often it is called 'GPL' the 'General Public License' and it comes in few variants, which you should be sure to read when using free software.  The gist of it, is that you can distribute and modify the software freely. So long as any modifications you make are also distribute for free under the same license. You cannot take free software, modify it, and then try to sell your modifications to others, because this is in direct opposition to what free software is all about.

Watch Out! - Some versions of the GPL do not even allow you to use the software for any commercial use.  Not a big deal if you are a government, or not-for-profit business, but it could be huge if you are trying to profit from free software

Whatever you decide, be sure to celebrate this Sept. Software Freedom Day. Learn more about it at softwarefreedomday.org