Comments on: Proprietary software is often more expensive than the open source alternative http://www.spoutingshite.com/2009/01/28/proprietary-software-is-often-more-expensive-than-the-open-source-alternative/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=proprietary-software-is-often-more-expensive-than-the-open-source-alternative Cloud Computing isn't about technology; it's about enabling your technology led business model with lower capital investment Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:12:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: justinkemp87 http://www.spoutingshite.com/2009/01/28/proprietary-software-is-often-more-expensive-than-the-open-source-alternative/comment-page-1/#comment-296 justinkemp87 Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:27:07 +0000 http://www.spoutingshite.com/?p=159#comment-296 I think a few pictures might help this blog<br><br>Thanks<br>leabs<br>______________________________________________<br><a href="http://www.oforu.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Buy Aion Kinah</a> | <a href="http://www.eing.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Aion Powerleveling</a> I think a few pictures might help this blog

Thanks
leabs
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]]> By: Ross Cooney http://www.spoutingshite.com/2009/01/28/proprietary-software-is-often-more-expensive-than-the-open-source-alternative/comment-page-1/#comment-137 Ross Cooney Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:42:20 +0000 http://www.spoutingshite.com/?p=159#comment-137 Ryan, I agree with most of your points. In many cases it is better to use proprietary rather than use some of the open source alternatives. One example of this is where we use Windows XP on desktops and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 internally in Rozmic. We disagree where we go outside the general 'day-to-day' software and start looking at enterprise grade software. For example, we use mysql for our application database. This costs us nothing to run but a Microsoft or Oracle alternative would be excessively expensive. At the same time we host over 50 linux servers on our application network...at around £600 for a Microsoft licence per server along with all the patch management hassles you can see why we choose linux. Ross Cooney www.emailcloud.com Ryan,

I agree with most of your points. In many cases it is better to use proprietary rather than use some of the open source alternatives. One example of this is where we use Windows XP on desktops and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 internally in Rozmic.

We disagree where we go outside the general ‘day-to-day’ software and start looking at enterprise grade software. For example, we use mysql for our application database. This costs us nothing to run but a Microsoft or Oracle alternative would be excessively expensive. At the same time we host over 50 linux servers on our application network…at around £600 for a Microsoft licence per server along with all the patch management hassles you can see why we choose linux.

Ross Cooney
http://www.emailcloud.com

]]> By: Ryan Tomlinson http://www.spoutingshite.com/2009/01/28/proprietary-software-is-often-more-expensive-than-the-open-source-alternative/comment-page-1/#comment-136 Ryan Tomlinson Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:23:20 +0000 http://www.spoutingshite.com/?p=159#comment-136 A few years ago I would have agreed with you but now I would say that this argument has less weight. For example, a few years ago developing with Microsoft products was hugely expensive and open source solutions were...well...free! These days that's not the case. MS are doing a lot to bridge this gap, including opening up more open source projects and providing free (express) versions of their products. In terms of hosting I would still say that the difference in cost between an Apache and an IIS shared host these days is usually minimal, if not nothing. I agree that for a dedicated or colocated box the costs are still on the large side for an SME but there are schemes that have been introduced by MS to address this. Most notably BizSpark. I also disagree with the argument about reduced dependence on software vendors. Not so long back the major benefit of open source was the feedback and assistance from the OS community. This is (dare I say) almost just as strong in the closed source community. The additional benefit in my opinion is the commercial support. I really feel that the "cost" factor is one of the biggest in the OS vs. proprietary argument but I think the gap is closing. I experimented a lot with Linux a few years back and I always end up with MS products. Poor and inconsistent package management solutions was the biggest killer. I remember it taking hours sometimes to figure out how to install certain packages, work out the dependencies etc. That just doesn't happen on Windows. Horses for courses I guess. A few years ago I would have agreed with you but now I would say that this argument has less weight. For example, a few years ago developing with Microsoft products was hugely expensive and open source solutions were…well…free! These days that’s not the case. MS are doing a lot to bridge this gap, including opening up more open source projects and providing free (express) versions of their products.

In terms of hosting I would still say that the difference in cost between an Apache and an IIS shared host these days is usually minimal, if not nothing. I agree that for a dedicated or colocated box the costs are still on the large side for an SME but there are schemes that have been introduced by MS to address this. Most notably BizSpark.

I also disagree with the argument about reduced dependence on software vendors. Not so long back the major benefit of open source was the feedback and assistance from the OS community. This is (dare I say) almost just as strong in the closed source community. The additional benefit in my opinion is the commercial support.

I really feel that the “cost” factor is one of the biggest in the OS vs. proprietary argument but I think the gap is closing. I experimented a lot with Linux a few years back and I always end up with MS products. Poor and inconsistent package management solutions was the biggest killer. I remember it taking hours sometimes to figure out how to install certain packages, work out the dependencies etc. That just doesn’t happen on Windows.

Horses for courses I guess.

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