Is Free or Open Source Software Any Good?

That’s a tough question. After a few frustrating experiences, I wrote off all open source software as junk. My complaints were usually justified.

Updates were haphazard and the software often had little or no documentation (that a non-tech person could understand). If you had a problem there was no 800 number to call to get help, The user interface was usually horrible (something only a “code-writer” could love), and, frankly, I distrusted anything created by someone who was doing it for a hobby.

While there are still plenty of examples out there of open-source software created by people who have no concept of the meaning of the term “user-friendly”, there are a lot of free software packages out there that are surprisingly good. And the next step up into the paid-level is usually reasonable.

A trend I’m noticing that seems really sensible to me is that the small and simple applications that won’t clog up your computer are still downloadable. The large applications for photo editing or “office” applications that can take up massive amounts of hard drive space and are real RAM hogs, are now becoming online apps.

Let me give you an example of why some open source software is getting better. There is a very small firm in Minneapolis called Advantage Labs. They have morphed over the last year or so from a web design firm into a Drupal developer and trainer.

The great thing is, rather than just accept any Drupal module that comes down the pike, they are vetting each module, approving it for their client’s use, and developing their own modules for e-commerce, something that has been sorely lacking in Drupal.

Small firms like this are what is going to make open source work.

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