Re:Is Open Source Software Really Good For Business?
by Herring on Monday April 28, 2008 @04:00PM
(#175949)
I really wish we could get past free as in beer & move on to free as in speech. Getting the sofware for free is all very well & good, but the really valuable part is being able to change it for your purposes.
[ Parent
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Re:Is Open Source Software Really Good For Business?
by notauser on Monday April 28, 2008 @04:51PM
(#176001)
There are a couple of very large business focused projects that work on code escrow and termination clauses.
The general idea is that when you contract for a customized application you get a price break by not taking the source code (as the vendor will expect to get money from change requests, support and selling to other customers). However takeover or bankruptcy of the vendor will let you claim the code under a GPL-type license from third party escrow.
Some of the peace of mind of OSS, but a decent revenue model for the vendor. I would prefer 'genuine' open source but as a buyer I would rank this kind of arrangement far above the normal 'we die and your tools stop working'.