After the Hearbleed virus attack recently, the debate of proprietary software versus open software has regained its relevance. Let me focus on both type of vendors considering the parameters like cost, support model and laid out processes .
Firstly , though there is no cost associated with open software but there are various indirect cost associated . To illustrate, the Red Hat Linux vendor has various fees for its support and other vendors of Linux charge for the change in software. Same is the case for Android vendors. Also, the cost incurred to recruit a developer on the specific open source software to customize is relatively high. However, the proprietary software has huge licensing cost, but the versioning of the product is centrally controlled. Also, the learning curve associated to acquire the knowledge of these software is much lower, hence the cost of developer is cheap. Thus, both type of vendors have cost associated with them and business model should take into consideration their requirements before making choices.
Secondly, the support model for both the vendors are quite different. As Open source software creation does not involve full time dedicated personal, it is mostly the volunteers with common interest getting together to solve common problem. Hence, once the application is released, these volunteers have no obligation to support. Also, the documentation, the user manual and other help is not often difficult to comprehend. However, the proprietary software have excellent documentation and learning sites. Some of the vendors have many online training sessions. There is set of documentation for each version of release. Also, they have dedicated support team all over the world with levels of support. Thus, the support structure of proprietary vendors are more robust then the open source.
Lastly, the open source developer often solve a broader problem and any specific domain problem is then handled by customization. For example, the OpenSSL is the solution to common problem of security, but on top of that each vendor can write there own application. However, most of the proprietary vendors construct their application to target specific problems . For example, Windows word is an user friendly editor with lot of plugins.
To summarize, both the proprietary and the open source have cost associated . However, the propriety vendors have better support model and domain processes. Hence, I believe they are the better option.
Firstly , though there is no cost associated with open software but there are various indirect cost associated . To illustrate, the Red Hat Linux vendor has various fees for its support and other vendors of Linux charge for the change in software. Same is the case for Android vendors. Also, the cost incurred to recruit a developer on the specific open source software to customize is relatively high. However, the proprietary software has huge licensing cost, but the versioning of the product is centrally controlled. Also, the learning curve associated to acquire the knowledge of these software is much lower, hence the cost of developer is cheap. Thus, both type of vendors have cost associated with them and business model should take into consideration their requirements before making choices.
Secondly, the support model for both the vendors are quite different. As Open source software creation does not involve full time dedicated personal, it is mostly the volunteers with common interest getting together to solve common problem. Hence, once the application is released, these volunteers have no obligation to support. Also, the documentation, the user manual and other help is not often difficult to comprehend. However, the proprietary software have excellent documentation and learning sites. Some of the vendors have many online training sessions. There is set of documentation for each version of release. Also, they have dedicated support team all over the world with levels of support. Thus, the support structure of proprietary vendors are more robust then the open source.
Lastly, the open source developer often solve a broader problem and any specific domain problem is then handled by customization. For example, the OpenSSL is the solution to common problem of security, but on top of that each vendor can write there own application. However, most of the proprietary vendors construct their application to target specific problems . For example, Windows word is an user friendly editor with lot of plugins.
To summarize, both the proprietary and the open source have cost associated . However, the propriety vendors have better support model and domain processes. Hence, I believe they are the better option.
