Software for Nothing

Free software is a great thing. Some of you may have heard of Linux or Open source software. While a complex topic, net/net it t means that one day, you might not have to pay Microsoft for Windows or even Word or Excel. Similar products will be available for free. You may have even seen this article in the NY Times talking about Ubuntu, a free Linux operating system for PCs which has become the latest phenomenon in the open source world.

Now, I just spent thousands of dollars for new laptops and software for my company. Further, we use similar open source technologies at many of my clients. So, you might think that I’d be ready to go right out and invest in Linux based desktops. You’d be wrong.

Why? Because unless you’re a large organization with very specific and controlled uses for your PCs, things like Ubuntu are not ready for mass business consumption. For example, the article discusses how entire school systems in Europe rely on Ubuntu. They are large organization so if they need to learn something new, they can apply that knowledge over and over again. The extra time spent learning the new software is offset by the tremendous gains in software licenses. Further, they know exactly what they need to do on each PC—basic web surfing and the other software that school children might need. They don’t have to worry that their desktops won’t work with the latest reporting or accounting software.

Compare that to my own business. Our laptops need to connect with dozens of possible clients who all have slightly different needs and almost all of whom expect us to use PCs. We need to insure that we work perfectly in the Microsoft dominated universe which is corporate IT. We can’t take the risk that something on our PCs won’t talk to our clients properly.

Where we have control, we still use free or open source technologies. If we can get the same results using a free MySQL database rather then a Microsoft or Oracle product, our clients are not going to care. Anyone who touches the guts of the system is going to be a developer. All the client sees is a nice web site.

Most of you fall some place between these two extremes. Still, I think that unless you’re really big and really controlled, open source on the desk top is not ready for prime time. The Microsoft monopoly on the desktop will be broken eventually. But it’s not going to be soon.

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