I’m not going to recount the history and foundations of open source software, just point out that the word “free” has long been a point of contention when folks talk about “free” software. For clarity, the open-source crowd will refer to …
- Free (as in Speech), meaning the user’s freedom to run, copy, distribute a piece of software
- Free (as in Beer), meaning the software is available at no cost
- BTW, the world is really into their free beer – a joke and the real thing, plus open-marketed, even genetically modified!
… and much debate whether the two terms are mutually exclusive.
Well, in this article, Greenemeier mentions a third truism about the use of open source in many IT organizations …
- Free (as in Puppy), meaning the work and expense begin once you get it home.
- Oops, looks like that quote should go to McNealy
Heck, that line is so good, it can be used to help the business understand total cost of ownership (TCO) for internally-developed software / systems.
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[…] not the hackneyed Knowledge is Free (as in Beer), but democratic as in made for and by the people. Organizations need to be participative, and […]