Open Source Benefits
Open Source software has many advantages over traditional closed source. The advantages most relevant to Bonsai ERP ™ are summarised below.
Fully customisable
Ever used a program that did (or didn’t) do something that annoyed you greatly? Wished you could change it?
With Open Source you can make that change, or engage a developer to make it for you. With closed source, there is nothing you can do except hope that the software vendor decides to make the change.
Most ERP systems provide some way of extending and customising them. But you can only customise in ways they’ve anticipated – the core is not your property and is not customisable. With Bonsai ERP ™, you can change anything you like. You have the complete program. You have the right and the possibility of changing it.
All you need are people with the right skills. Your budget can be spent on customisation, rather than licences.
Future-proof
There is no single entity you are relying on to keep using the software. You have access to all source code, and should your software supplier cease to operate or decide to stop supporting the program, you can turn to someone else.
With closed-source commercial software, you are without options should the vendor decide not to support the software any longer. You may be forced to change from an “abandonware” product whether you want to or not.
With open source software, updates from the vendor needn’t break your customisations. Because you have all of the software under your control, you can merge the two.
Lower Costs
The lack of licencing fees lowers your cost of investment.
The opportunity to choose between different suppliers of support can reduce your cost of ongoing support.
There is usually no need to upgrade an Open Source program just because a new version is available. If you do decide to upgrade, there is no new licence fee to be paid. This reduces your cost of upgrading.
No Licencing hassles
Many closed source licences require you to track and manage your purchases of those licences. For example, if you do not have the receipt for every copy of Microsoft Windows you use, then you could be fined for software piracy. You can freely copy Open Source software and deploy it wherever you like whenever you like. Open Source software eliminates time-wasting hassle and cost of licence compliance.
Further Benefits
There are other advantages to Open Source. You might be interested in the Open Source Initiative and Open Source Industry Australia. There are also a couple of short but relevant articles on the ComputerWorldUk web site, here and here.