How much does OpenSource cost

The meaning of the term Open Source is often identified with the absence of the need to pay for a software product. The desire to save money, to "freebie" is not alien to the majority, and it seems like OpenSource should be the magic tablet that should have saved the whole world from monsters such as Microsoft, which require a small fee for their products. However, this does not happen. In this article, we will try at the top level, without diving in in particular and details, to understand what happens Open Source? Why Open Source never became that tablet. ... And do you really need her?

Definition


To begin with, we still decide what OpenSource is - it's open source software. You can not only use such software, but also work with its source code - view it, study, make your own changes. In fact, the first author, the creator of any such program invites the whole world to co-authorship, and usually such programs arise precisely because of the specific needs of their creators.

Even our own philosophy of the free software movement has taken shape, the purpose of which is to guarantee four basic user freedoms:

  1. Free use of programs for any purpose;
  2. The freedom to study how the program works, adapt it to your needs (open source);
  3. Freedom to distribute copies of the program;
  4. The freedom to modify and improve, correct the detected errors, as well as to publish an improved version of the program for the benefit of the entire community.

How does it happen


Do not confuse open source software with free or freeware software. The latter, unlike open source software, is only distributed free of charge, but has a license in its license to copy and / or modify the source code.

A striking and widely known example of open source software is Linux , as the kernel of the operating system, created by Linus Torvalds in 1991. The Linux kernel itself is freely distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL. Torvalds decided to use this option when it became apparent that something that was his personal hobby began to spread rapidly around the world.

However, oddly enough, this does not mean that all versions of operating systems based on this kernel are free. There are also purely commercial products , for example, SUSE Enterprise Linux , Red Hat Enterprise Linux - designed for corporate use. By purchasing this distribution (and in fact a subscription to updates), the buyer receives support for those obligations that the manufacturer of this operating system takes upon itself. SUSE and Red Hat, in addition to the classical methods of making money selling the distributions themselves (subscriptions), implementation services and technical support, sell official products with their own symbols - polo, caps, mugs, toys, stationery, etc.

Another interesting point, no matter how free and open Linux was, it did not appear out of nowhere, resources were also spent on its creation. In different years, various studies were carried out using various techniques, and the cost of developing the Linux kernel version 2.6.0 was estimated. In 2004, the value was estimated at 612 million US dollars (467 million euros) using a person-month evaluation model (the method adopted for evaluating the development of proprietary software). In 2006, another study was funded by the European Union, resulting in a figure of 1.09 billion US dollars (882 million euros). In 2008, the core development cost estimate reached $ 1.3 billion.

There are examples where the software itself remains Open Source, in its canonical sense. However, it is also successfully monetized. As an example, we can take the Zabbix software product - a universal monitoring system for any IT infrastructure, cloud resources, services and applications. Quote from the company's website: “Zabbix - Free open source software. There are no restrictions or hidden costs. ” However, the manufacturer successfully monetizes its product, offering a wide range of services around the world:

  • Technical support services for corporate clients under the contract;
  • System upgrade services to the latest LTS or standard version;
  • Services developing additional monitoring capabilities for specific customer needs;
  • Services for integrating Zabbix with systems for recording tasks \ applications, warehouse management, configuration management, visualization \ reporting, messaging and other information systems;
  • One-time sessions to solve problems (for example, a full-time specialist on vacation and can’t directly connect at all, it happens) using a remote connection;
  • Creating templates for outdated or unique equipment, for equipment of own production, or in the case when the existing template does not allow you to get a complete picture of the state of the monitored device;
  • Turnkey installation of the solution, up to and including on-site consultations, advanced customization and on-site training of client employees at the rate of a certified specialist;
  • Consulting services, including options with the company's specialist visiting the client.

In this state of affairs, there is no discord, the product itself remains in the Open Source category, and companies essentially earn extra services, provide the customer with confidence in the stability of software updates and in timely correction of detected errors. Any person has the opportunity to influence and change such a product by changing both individual libraries and modifying the applied software products on which monetized programs are based, or which are used in their composition.

Of course, most of the software products that can be classified as Open Source projects is canonical free software. They are created by enthusiasts, sometimes to solve their own problems, sometimes to achieve some socially useful goal. Not everyone finds wide distribution and application. This is mainly due to the applied task, which the program is called upon to solve.

But even those programs that are becoming quite popular can face a lot of problems. For example, the main developer (usually it's still one person or a small group of like-minded people) lose interest in the further development and implementation of new functionality, or do not find time to support the project. Or, among the development team, there are significant differences in the strategy for the further development of the product. Very often in this case, branches from the parent version of the project appear - copies of the repository, which begin to develop separately from the main project. Here are 3 more scenarios:

  1. The main project remains leading in its class;
  2. Fork is more successful than the project of claim 1;
  3. The project is bent, both forks and their basis die.

What in this case, when the product is a classic example of an Open Source project costs money? By and large, everything is the same as in the monetized Open Source projects - specialists. Specialists who know or can figure out how a particular system works, who are able to implement a new system, update an existing one or integrate with other systems. Very often, such specialists are unique, not just one in a million (although it seems that there are such examples), but within some not very metropolitan territory, they are probably not a great choice.

You can hire such a specialist in the state. Its cost is often quite high. Of course, there is an option to take advantage of outsourcing offers both from freelancers and from organizations specializing in the provision of technical support services. In this case, a freelancer is the least expensive option, but also the most risky. By analogy with software manufacturers selling support for their products, specialized companies also provide more guarantees for compliance with agreements fixed by the contract and better understand their responsibility to the customer.

Cost


It’s possible to estimate the level of costs (just to estimate, it’s impossible to calculate exactly at all, although the calculation may turn out to be quite close) on your Open Source in your company:

  • First you need to decide which product is supposed to be used.
  • Based on this, support options appear - it is either provided by the system developer on commercial terms (which is extremely important from the point of view of understanding and observing SLA), or the developer does not have such a service and it is necessary to look for other ways. The disadvantages of such support are the high cost and not always prompt reaction if the SLA is not based on the needs of the customer;
  • Another way, as already mentioned above, can be roughly divided into three options:
  • Finding and hiring a freelancer is the least costly, but quite risky option, even if a contract is concluded between the freelancer and the organization, force majeure risks are the strongest. Moreover, the level of expertise of a freelancer can be really very high. Or maybe vice versa;
  • Selection of a specialized outsourcing organization that can provide the necessary list of services to support the selected system. Something between the support from the manufacturer (where the maximum level of expertise, and usually the cost) and freelance (where rather the cheapness of the resource is due to the low level of competence in a narrow specialization);
  • Hiring an employee in the staff is the advantage of this option in the complete control of the resource, the ability to quickly orient the employee to solve a specific problem. In the minuses, you can write a fairly high cost, the risk of service downtime in case of loss of employee.
  • The selection of an employee / company - whether it is a choice of support from the manufacturer or from an independent freelancer / organization, or hiring an employee in the staff, you need to understand exactly what criteria to choose an artist for. Those. essentially have the expertise to determine the expertise. Or, again, hire someone (organization or individual) with such expertise.

Conclusion


At the end of the article I want to summarize the resulting fabrications.

  • The first conclusion is that Open Source does not mean free , but rather at the household level it means freely available.
  • The second conclusion is that the canonical application of Open Source can be obtained only in case of personal use , i.e. home use.
  • The third conclusion is that a synonym is not always good for free , in cases where the operation of an application or service based on an Open Source project is critical, you need to have reliable support. It all depends on the price of downtime.
  • The fourth conclusion is that since the application or service is critical, its maintenance and support simply cannot be free, it’s not what you have to pay for it, you have to pay for it .

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