Open Source Does Not Equal Free

Companies have a stigma about open source.  It is  free, so how good can it be?  Well, it really is not free. The cost of the code may be free, but you still have to install, customize, tweak, host  and support it. These are the same things you have to do with “not-free” software.

We have incurred programming costs for many open source installations.  As we enjoy not having to pay a yearly cost just to have it, we still have to budget for keeping it around. The most interesting thing about open source it me is, the same programmers who create commercial code, are the same caliber of coder of the open source coder.  That matters to me. Free does not equal bad. It equals good judgement.