Without question, open source systems are dramatically less expensive than proprietary systems in initial cost. While the open source operating system known as Linux is free, there are many low-cost value-added versions which others have labored over in order to make Linux easy to install and easy to use. The extra value added by these efforts results in a very low initial cost. There are many open source software applications which are free or low-cost whose quality equals--and in many cases surpasses--the quality of proprietary software applications.
Open source software and operating systems can often be easier to maintain over the long run than their proprietary counterparts. With open source software such as the Mozilla Firefox web browser, a friendly reminder notifies you to download updates. The onscreen instructions are easy to walk through. When you next go online, the updates are installed and operating.
Other types of open source software, such as OpenOffice.org, is very stable, robust, and functional for long periods of time, and there is no need for frequent updates. Open source operating systems can also run stably, robustly, and continuously for long periods without crashing or causing problems, therefore little maintenance is necessary.
Finally, security issues and maintenance issues are connected. For example, there are frequent security flaws discovered in proprietary operating systems and software, necessitating frequent patch downloads and maintenance for these systems. Open source software and operating systems are inherently more secure. There are far fewer security patches to download and install because the software contains far fewer security flaws.
Maintenance for hardware built for you by Montpelier Open Source will be easier than maintaining hardware from a giant computer company. We're right here in your neighborhood, and we can perform maintenance on your systems quickly and easily. After all, if we built it for you, we already know its configuration, so no guesswork is involved. You don't have to send your computers anywhere. We're easy-going and easy to reach--no website help maze to navigate, no waiting on hold to speak with foreign outsourced technicians.
Training is no more or less important with open source systems than with proprietary systems, it's just that there's usually no money left for training on proprietary systems after a round of expensive upgrades. A great many people have been using proprietary systems for years, and yet they are still barely getting by in terms of efficiency and proficiency. After spending inordinate sums of money to upgrade proprietary systems, the new versions are a benefit to no one, because no one received any training. With all the money you save on cost-effective open source solutions, affordable training is finally within your reach. Opponents of open source often cite training as a "hidden cost" of open source, when in fact it is the complete absence of any training on proprietary systems that is the real hidden cost.
Licensing issues are of paramount concern with proprietary systems: the customer is forever concerned with the high cost of licenses and portability issues, while the proprietary systems vendor is forever concerned with profit in the face of rampant piracy of their product. Customers of proprietary systems break the law when they install software beyond the number of times allowed in its license. They may feel they have little choice because they can't afford the expensive licenses, but they need to perform necessary, critical work on their computers.
With open source systems, licensing is virtually a non-issue! How is this possible? Because open source software and operating systems are licensed in an entirely different fashion that includes customer rights of distribution. Much open source software and operating systems are distributed under the GNU Public License, which is different than a traditional proprietary license. The GNU Public License gives you as a customer far more freedom and flexibility in how you install, copy, and use the product. Since much open source software is free, you can have as many copies of it as you like! Even open source system licenses you pay for are often far less restrictive than proprietary licenses. Not only does this type of licensing save you money in the initial purchase of an open source system, it often saves you a lot of money in the long run over upgrades, which are often inexpensive or even free. Upgrades for proprietary systems are sometimes almost as expensive as the initial purchase!
Because Open source systems are inherently more stable, they enjoy considerably greater uptime than proprietary systems. Open source systems simply do not crash or freeze as often as proprietary systems do. This increased uptime means increased consecutive productive work hours combined with a decrease in time spent on crash recovery, document recovery, and troubleshooting.
Open source systems are tried and tested by government agencies, universities, and scientific institutions. Increasing numbers of such enterprises are migrating to open source platforms, including organizations for whom reliability and security are paramount concerns.
Many proprietary system vendors cease supporting older versions of their products because they make more money by selling upgrades and new products. For many organizations, legacy applications must remain for a variety of reasons. Often, business owners are hit twice regarding upgrades, because in order to upgrade an application, the operating system, the hardware, or both must also be upgraded. Open source operating systems can often run on older computers that are too slow for the newest versions of proprietary software or operating systems. The open source community is comprised of people who are dedicated to what works best in a given situation, not necessarily to what's new. You may expect solid and lasting support for legacy applications and systems--you are not subject to the marketing whims of major corporations.
Open source is the choice of organizations concerned about the safety and security of their data. The vast majority of viruses, worms, and browser hijacks simply do not affect open source systems. One reason why is that they all target Microsoft™ systems. The other reason is that proprietary systems are inherently less secure than open source systems. It is counterintuitive, but true, that systems where anyone can access the source code are safer and more secure than proprietary systems, which are closed from public scrutiny. The security of open source systems are not dependent on hiding flaws or weaknesses from potential attackers. Open source systems are designed in such a way so that even will full knowledge of the system's source code, the system remains secure! On the other hand, the "security by obscurity" of closed systems means that previously unknown flaws and weaknesses can be discovered and exploited before the vendor or the public is aware.
With proprietary systems, a successful attack can be carried out before anyone even knows it happened. This happens so frequently, the Department of Homeland Security and many other experts now recommend that you no longer utilize Microsoft™ Internet Explorer™ as your default web browser. It is too easily compromised. The open source web browser Firefox is recommended instead.
Open source code is tested, examined, and is more highly evolved than proprietary source code, which is often full of hidden flaws and mistakes. The nature of the open source community is one of peer review and of collaboration.
Proprietary software involves trust in a corporation where decisions are based on marketing and shareholder concerns, rather than the concerns of customers. Open source software involves trusting craftspeople who take pride in their work and their reputation among a community of their peers--the "shareholders" and the "customers" are one and the same.
The philosophy of open source can be found in the word open. Open is the opposite of closed, or proprietary. The closed way of doing business was to withhold knowledge from others, in order to have an exploitable advantage. In the market, this advantage over your competition lasts only as long as you can prevent your secrets from leaking out.
The open way of doing business is to democratize and freely distribute knowledge to help others rather than exploit them. In the market, this creates beneficial, synergistic opportunities and relationships. It's the classic example of how a rising tide lifts all boats. From a competitive standpoint, serving your customers in a superior, cost-effective manner gives you the advantage over your competition. The open source movement is just that: a movement, signifying a sea-change in how we conceive, create, utilize, and distribute our electronic tools of the trade.
Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit corporation dedicated to managing and promoting the Open Source Definition for the good of the community, specifically through the OSI Certified Open Source Software certification mark and program.
Linux isn't the only free and freely-distributable operating system out there (there are others, such as FreeBSD), but it is the most popular and because of its stability, security, and low cost, Linux is making headway into the business world. Enterprise-level services for large organizations are expensive and don't focus on the needs of small organizations, which are the backbone of the US economy. We do. Montpelier Open Source offers systems & services for the smaller organization.
What's the big deal about Linux? Learn more about Linux at Linux.org.
If you're using Windows, your default web browser is probably Internet Explorer (IE). News articles to your right cover IE's security vulnerabilities.
A small organization can't afford the downtime nor the damage that may result. We recommend Mozilla Firefox.
It downloads and installs easily. It imports all your favorites from IE. Its features are very useful, such as the ability to open new sites in tabs (like spreadsheet tabs), rather than new windows. It has automatic pop-up blocking, too! It's safe from over 90% of the kind of attacks that plague Internet Explorer. It's free, so try it!
Firefox is also extendable with a wealth of features. For far less than the cost of trying to recover your PC from a browser hijacking or other spyware attack, you can get a fun training training session from Montpelier Open Source on how to make the best of the internet and be safe.
Microsoft Office is the defacto standard in the business world. It's also expensive, and every organization that uses it is practically forced into expensive periodic upgrades as Microsof discontinues support for older versions. Microsoft Office is excellent software, but its suite of applications has far more than most people need. You are paying for features you might never use. The real productivity and functionality of Office cannot be realized until you have received training, so now you can add expensive training to your already expensive software.
But what if you could have a free office suite that has all the same basic functionality you use in Microsof Office? What if you could open, work on and save documents in Microsoft Office formats? Training is necessary to get the most from any software application, but at least you can chuck the expensive software and the expensive upgrades!
OpenOffice.org meets these mission-critical business criteria. It costs absolutely nothing and though it makes no claims that it does everything Microsoft Office does, it does do all of the things people need the most. It even does a few things better!
Word processing and spreadsheets are the heart and soul of business computing. OpenOffice Write and Calc provide nearly exact duplicate functionality with Word and Excel. For presentations, there's OpenOffice Impress, which compares with PowerPoint. OpenOffice also has web page editing tools and a drawing application. You can have macros, too, but here's the best part: because OpenOffice is open source, programmers can access the source code of OpenOffice and modify it to the needs of your organization. You simply can't do that with Microsoft Office. That's the beauty of open source software.