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Software costs include
more than just licenses

In recent months, open-source software has taken the business world by storm. As many know by now, open source means that the "guts," or source code, of the software is open to anyone. Since source code is the basic information that is used to build software, anyone with access to it can make an exact copy of the end product. For this very reason, most software companies have kept the source code for their products well guarded.

Many pundits attribute the popularity of open-source software to its cost. While not always free, open-source software can be much less expensive than its old-fashioned, proprietary cousin.

But in many instances, open-source may not be "cheaper," especially over the long term. Certainly, with respect to tangible costs, open-source is less expensive than its commercial competition. In this case, tangible costs usually consist of the amount you shell out for licenses and software maintenance. Yes, you still should buy maintenance for most open-source products, as this will provide you with updates and support.

But what about intangible costs? This is where it gets tricky. While we love to pick on the Microsoft's and IBM's of the world, their popularity greatly reduces the intangible costs, especially related to "supportability." The sheer volume of users of these products creates an informal support group.

As a very simple example, suppose you need to know a good way to format your cash-flow projections in Microsoft Excel. Surely, you have a friend or relative who's used Excel for a very similar reason. Call them and ask. At most, it will cost you a malasada or two. But what if you're using OpenOffice? The list of people to call for help just got a lot smaller.

For many types of software, especially the larger and more complex variety such as relational databases, operating systems, or application servers, "user groups" can be a big help. A user group is basically a bunch of people (OK, geeks), who meet on a regular basis to discuss the trials and tribulations of their efforts with that particular piece of software. It's a great way to informally educate each other. The size of the user group is in direct proportion to the popularity of the software in that locale.

User groups are especially valuable in Hawaii due to geography and our relatively small population. While you can probably find just about any user group in large mainland cities, this is not always the case in Hawaii. With the exception of Linux, user groups for open source software in Hawaii are few and far between.

Certainly, a way to ease the intangible costs of open source software is to increase its use. While we believe this will take place over time, conservative folks need to consider intangible costs before taking the leap with open source software.

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