Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Thu 20th Oct 2005 01:58 UTC
Although open source software comes with lofty (and sometime altruistic) ambitions, some developers worry that the model just doesn't present a practical plan for the future of the software industry. Shawn Shell argues that proprietary software is here to stay for a lot of good reasons. Why should you bother with looking at open source software though? Isn't it safer to stick with Microsoft and the other big corporate software designers? David Chisnall helps us to distinguish between proprietary (sometimes referred to as "predatory") software and its open source counterparts.
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"And why can't developers work as ordinary employees?"
.
This is excactly the point. What we need is big software houses that is just that - a factory that produces software.
Software only have to be written once, so we have to change the economics. How much does it cost to make X software? Put it to litigation. The best bid from a softwarehouse wins. They have programmers which are paid (me
Support when the product is finnished. Guarantees that it works.
When the product is delivered, a new ligitation can be made for extending that product.
The upshot is that the software price is just how many developer hours it costs. This is the reason why Open Source will overtake properitary software. You only pay once for your software.
So repeat after med: Software should be made just like a house is being made. First you need to find out what software you need. Then you need to find others who need it. Then you have to find software companies who can bid on the implementation.
The reason for going through this? The cheapest price.
If you are not carefully when buying software, you can end up paying what you can pay, and not what it costs to develope.
If you wan't to buy properitary software that is OK. You just have to look at the formats. Are you storing data that you need to retrieve again? Then you need an open format. Are you communicating with others, then you need an open format. Else the guy in the other end, needs to use the same software vendor as you (yes, Skype is a messaure of the stupidity in the world).
So when you are not storing or communicating using the software, it can be as properitary as you like.
So to sum up the rules:
1. Never buy software which writes to a closed or patented format.
2. Never buy properitary software which communicates with other in a closed or patented protocol.
3. If you know what the software should do, it is a good idea to create it as open source software. It will be cheaper in the long run, since you then can get everybody to enhance the product, and not just the company which has supplied the original product.