Open Source – pros and cons

May 11th, 2011 by Ivan Mojsilovic Leave a reply »

It’s a question that many have asked themselves before. But the answer isn’t easy to find. However, it is important to address that question wisely, whether it is from software vendors point of view or final users’ point of view. In this article, I will discuss the question in general, without giving deep analysis, and later on go into detail, discussing aspects of open source model.

First, let’s list some of the open source projects linked with business (as I have mentioned above, we are not going to analyze open source tools and frameworks yet, we are just talking about business tools!)

CMS: WordPress, Alfresco, Joomla, Drupal etc.
DMS: Alfresco, OpenKM, KnowledgeTree etc.
ERP: OpenERP, OpenBravo, JFire, Adempiere, Erp 5 etc.
SHOP: osCommerce, Zen Cart, Magento, OpenCart, PrestaShop etc.
CRM: SugarCRM, OpenERP, vtiger etc.

Now, to apologize to those whose favorite solutions are left out. It isn’t because I don’t think of them as good solutions, but because I still didn’t have the chance to use them.

From now on, I will talk about each of the mentioned solutions separately.

Alfresco - Open Source ECM

Alfresco - Open Source ECM

Benefits of open source tool:

  • lower initial investment, since costs of licenses are either very low or the licenses aren’t paid at all, because not only the company behind the project is involved in development, but the community as well
  • transparency – if you purchase open source solution, it’s development can be continued by anyone interested in it, even the buyers themselves. There is no chance that the problem of tool supplier will leave you without further support and development.
  • buyers can develop modules of open source tools on their own, under the condition they have the resources needed (companies with IT sections)

    OpenERP - Open Source ERP

    OpenERP - Open Source ERP

  • bugs are repaired faster since the repair is done by a community, and after that all buyers are provided with patches
  • the level of safety is higher because the community works on removing safety holes that are visible to everyone
  • buyers can change supplier at any given moment if they are dissatisfied  and find another one from any place in the world

Drawbacks of open source tool:

  • documents can often be incomplete and not updated, which makes it easier to develop a problem. Then, you have to search for a solution through the community, which can be frustrating since buyers need the solution immediately
  • support can be a problem because many provide services of implementing  and maintaining open source systems without being sufficiently equipped to do so
  • users’ interface in open source solution is often put in the background which brings about situations where we have to work hard on it to get satisfying solutions

This was a short list of reasons pro and con open source. In the period that is coming I will deal with these items even more, but for now, just listing them is enough.

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  • LazyFan

    You are wrong and have given up too easily!
    The solution is if your using FOSS in the Enterprise then get a developer from the Vendor on site to do it for you. And then it is done.

    This is cheaper than you working around the problems.

    Problem: “documents can often be incomplete”
    Answer: The FOSS developer on site, you then can ask to do these. Your paying for them. And then they are done.

    Problem: “support can be a problem”
    Answer: Dev on site, now you no longer have a problem.

    Problem: “users’ interface in open source solution is often put in the background”
    Answer: Dev on site to enhance the UX (which is more than an interface), job done.

    Then all of these problems will be solved Out Of The Box and you can stay Vanilla with the product.

    Your problems are solved by paying for a Vendor Dev on site rather than a Dev off the street.

    Also you will get Enterprise class support and it is notable that FOSS companies are the only ones who can provide this.

    I have to ask will the Closed Commercial product give you Dev on site? I think not!

  • Ivan Mojsilovic

    @LazyFan, I agree 100%. But even vendor need some support, and you can end up in problem if you cannot solve the issue by your self.

    Dev on site – can you really ask for more? :)

  • http://droope.wordpress.com droope

    Not to mention that propietary software also has the same drawbacks sometimes :P

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  • Greg A. Woods

    The attributes you list as drawbacks of open source are not unique to open source and thus are not specific drawbacks of open source in general.

    This is especially true if you think of it as a question of whether to use open source (perhaps with your own modifications), or whether to write your own code (or hire someone to write it for you).

    The drawbacks of open source become specific to just those related to the specific task vs. the particular open source projects being considered for that specific task.

    At this point you can more or less also equate the option of writing your own code with that of buying code from a vendor, since in effect you are “hiring” the vendor to write code.

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