Quantifying the Benefits of Open Source

garym — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 21:08:27 -0400

Years ago, I did a prototype financial application for Milton Wong, one of the few billionaires I've ever known on a first-name basis. The year was about 1981, desktop computers were great hulking beasts with 64K for code and another 64K for data, and the King of the Office O/S was CP/M.

Milton told me, "I could spend $20,000 on a feasibility study, find out it's a good idea, and then spend another $20,000 to build it, or I could just give you $20,000, and if you fail, then that was my feasibility study, and if you succeed, I just saved myself $20,000."

But some people like rationalities they can mull over a boredroom table, and for people who like that sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like:

The report, entitled Open Source: Open for Business details how and why open source has gained strength, provides case study examples, describes a variety of product types and offers a robust appendix of source Web sites. Open Source also contains in-depth information about little-known licensing and legal ramifications.

Robust appendix?

[Source: Desktop Linux ]

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Quantifying the Benefits of Open Source