Business and enterprise software, and other applications that help a business run

The immediate assumption when you say something is free (or even very inexpensive) is that it is inferior. Open Source software is often “free” so almost as often the assumption of inferiority is applied to the concept of Open Source software. First, this “free” is not the average kind of free, although some people treat it as if it were. Second, in most cases, the thought that Open Source software is inferior could not be further from the truth.

Very often, when open source is said to be free, the phrase “as in beer” is appended to the original description. These three extra words go a long way toward describing the exact manner in which open source software is free, which was of course the idea. Those words were, I think, the brainchild of Richard Stallman, and have perhaps been best explained by Lawrence Lessig, writing in Wired Magazine. Although I’ll give you the reference link to read the whole article (it’s worth it), I’ll also try to put it in context for you here.

Free just means that the source code for the software is available at no charge. You can even change open source software or make additions to it, as long as those changes or additions are also freely available. In fact, you are encouraged to do so. It is permissible to charge for the software, as long as all of the source code is part of the sale. It is felt that, in the long run, the result of this arrangement will be better software. One can point to success stories like Linux, and many others, in order to prove this point.

Much of what Stallman and Lessig say about free beer (and software) is philosophical in nature. If you have any time to spare, it is worthwhile to delve into these subjects more deeply. You can start with the Open Source, Stallman, and Lessig links given above and keep clicking until you have a good feel for it. A lot of “open” advocates feel that it is the way the world must move in order to improve itself. I agree.

There is also, however, a practicality involved with free software. Most of the people that write it are committed to the concept. Most of them do it for free. Most of them have day jobs as highly skilled professional designers and programmers. A lot of them, in fact, are very well-known programmers. If you don’t think that the software is good, download Open Office and compare it to the Microsoft product. You will quickly find out how good Open Source really is.

But something has to pay to keep the power on, and to pick up incidentals, even when the software is free. One way to do that is to pass it forward. In other words, take some of your time and contribute it to an open source project. Write some code, if you can. Write some documentation. Ask around and see if someone need your help. If, for some reason, you can’t help, make a donation to keep the servers turning. Most Open Source projects will take that, too.

After someone buys you a beer, it is both good form and good manners to buy a round when it is your turn.