open source-good/bad idea for small businesses??

Always a Rebel

Is open source software a good/bad idea for a new small business?Could ye tell me what are the advantages and disadvantages and what company have the best deal, prices in yer opinion. Thanks:)

Capt'n Midnight

If you can support it yourself then you can can usually download what you need or borrow a CD - depends on the license. Things like Suse and Red Hat and Crossover Office aren't free though.

If you are paying someone to support it then go with their recomendation.

What are you using the software for ?
Wordprocessing
Spread sheets
graphic design
finite element analysis

SouperComputer

It depends on what software specifically you want to use, how you wan to use it and how you plan to support it.

A blanket\companywide decision can only be bad either for or against open source.

AndrewMc

Always a Rebel wrote:

Is open source software a good/bad idea for a new small business?Could ye tell me what are the advantages and disadvantages and what company have the best deal, prices in yer opinion. Thanks:)

If you're talking about going the whole hog and ditching Windows completely, then well done! Obviously this is only reasonable if you don't need any "specialist" software that's only available (and supported properly) on Windows. You'll probably need somebody to help get you up and running (especially if you want a nice server setup) but maintenance is usually tiny. For desktops there are distributions like Ubuntu that are very easy to use and (important particularly for a new business, I suppose) cost-free. If you can get somebody on a minimal retainer to look after you, it should work out well.

In some cases hardware support may be tricky, but in general it's not a biggie. Things like modems can be awkward, but if you're in an office hopefully you'll be able to get broadband so they won't be of interest. A quick check online should tell you before you buy.

If you can't go the whole hog and ditch Windows completely, at the very least keep an eye out for open-source applications that are built for it. OpenOffice 2 is a particularly good example of something that's good enough for 95%+ of people, and could save you a lot of money.

In general, operating system or applications, the ability to completely ignore licensing is a big plus - none of this "how many copies are we allowed to install", or realising you got the Word-and-Excel-only Office, and now you want Powerpoint, too. You can also continuously upgrade to the latest version for free, rather than be stuck with the version-before-last as time goes on. With pay-for software this can get particularly messy as the company grows and people with newer machines are using different versions (Windows, Office, etc) that don't work the same.

I've probably left lots out - just going to get my first coffee of the day now

nutzboutstuff

Well most machines come with a windows license these days, and for small businesses you can use common desktops as servers, we have a compaq desktop with 2Gb of ram serving mail to almost a hundred people without problem. Install something like fedora core on it, and its easy as pie (once you know how) to set up postfix for mail, and dhcpd and dns... and thats basically enough for a small business. Then throw in another machine running something like confluence for the company intranet and you're a happy little company!

Karoma

Oo
Is the OP asking from a purchasing point of view..or from a business model (With a side of market research) point of view?

Always a Rebel

what if your company didnt have a dedicated IT department and have to outsource to an IT company, is it still worth it despite the added costs of training personnel etc??or would it be wiser to stick with the microsoft systems that we are using?

Capt'n Midnight

Always a Rebel wrote:

what if your company didnt have a dedicated IT department and have to outsource to an IT company, is it still worth it despite the added costs of training personnel etc??or would it be wiser to stick with the microsoft systems that we are using?

That company would then need to have a support contract or pay someone on a time and materials basis or nixer for computer support. Or send an emplyoee on a training course TOO - experiance is essential so you need access to someone with experiance. And the person supporting it should have a say too, or you would need to find someone else.

Again I ask the question what SW are you using or looking to replace.
eg: replacing Microsoft office with open office should not affect backups, replacing every windows machine with linux would be a tad more disruptive.

If you use AutoCAD then it only runs on windows ( R14 on WINE may not cut it in a business )

How long is a piece of string ?

It's very difficult to explain alternatives to what you have when you haven't described what you have. The only clue you have given is "microsoft systems" and that you aren't aware of using any open source at the moment which narrows it down to about 95% (and a lot of the 5% are MAC users who aren't running microsoft office)

kyper

First of all fair play to you for actually thinking seriously on this... not enough small businesses go for linux.. largely down to ignorance of the OS I guess, etc.


I would say go for it. You will save a lot in the long run and the move will be least painfull if you are just starting up as you wont need to replace any existing systems.

Support wise you will always get the world of help from the linux community, someone is always willing to help.

If you do decide to give it a go I'd be more than happy to help you out with setup, advice etc.

AARRRGH

Always a Rebel wrote:

what if your company didnt have a dedicated IT department and have to outsource to an IT company, is it still worth it despite the added costs of training personnel etc??or would it be wiser to stick with the microsoft systems that we are using?

You're taking a big risk with open source software unless you're a techie.

Unless you're very comfortable with computers, and enjoy reading technical books, I'd avoid it.

(Disclaimer: I'm assuming you're talking about taking the full Linux route... not just using Firefox or something like that.)

kyper

dublindude wrote:

You're taking a big risk with open source software unless you're a techie.

Unless you're very comfortable with computers, and enjoy reading technical books, I'd avoid it.

(Disclaimer: I'm assuming you're talking about taking the full Linux route... not just using Firefox or something like that.)

I disagree. The hardest part will be the initial set up and getting the hang of things - You'll get plenty of help there. In my experience once you are up and running you dont run into the usual virus or spyware or machine slow down you get from windows. Also I found that whoever is put in charge of simple tasks like managing user accounts, resetting password etc tend to get comfortable with linux pretty fast and eventually gather enough confidence to roll up their sleeves and get a bit more hands on.

put it this way... if you could buy your PCs from Dell with linux preinstalled and all working nice and smoothly with the basic telephone support you'd probably go with linux pretty darn quick. The benefits are obvious.

Although the Windows route probably would be a lot easier, you would have the pain of spyware & software costs etc.

I'd still say go for Linux or at least give it more concideration and my offer to help still stands.

AARRRGH

Yes, perhaps. The fact that this is for his business though makes me think it's not worth the risk.

For his home network or something like that, I'd say "Go for it".

But as someone who is involved in a business, the last thing I need is my technology potentially not working!!

kyper

All very true. I'm in business myself and I reply almost totally on open source.

I've had nothing but success with Linux and open source with a fair few deployments. Don't get me wrong though there have been some annoying issues with more customized deployments but other than those one offs it's all been good. 90% of the time I can fix issues remotely via ssh to a server and from there to desktops.

As for "technology potentially not working".. Lets just say there is a reason why Banks and large companys run Linux/UNIX.