Why open source website solutions and business don’t mix

So much jargon, so many different opinions, so many different business models, it’s enough to make you go spare just thinking about it.

Just when you think you’ve got some understanding of how it all works, either a completely new technology or business model emerges, making all your learning redundant in a heartbeat.

It’s a bit like watching Under 9s play most codes of football. Positioning and planning go out the window as soon as play starts. They all just want to be where the ball is.

One major trend in recent years has revolved around ‘open source’ web solutions.

A technology free for all

Open source is so called because the ‘source code’ – the programming language it is created in, is ‘open’ for all to use. Unlike most aspects of business, it is essentially created by volunteers who contribute their time ‘pro bono’ in return for solving a technical challenge, improving their resumes, competing for bragging rights, or just because they can.

But the central premise of open source software is collaboration. It is essentially a system of programmers scratching each other’s backs for mutual benefit – ‘I’ll do this bit if you do that bit’ to create a new whole – and a prestigious credit.

The World Wide Web you are using to read or download this article was created in such an open source language – hypertext mark-up language, essentially ‘donated’ to the world by Sir Tim Berners Lee and his team of nuclear research technology personnel.

The proprietary alternative

The alternative to all this is so called ‘proprietary’ systems – software that is created, built and supported by a commercial organisation.

There is nothing new in proprietary systems. The browser you are viewing this article on, the software you create documents in and your financial software are all highly likely to be proprietary systems.

In fact, pretty much every business expense you have is ‘proprietary’ – a business either manufactured or has provided it.

The beauty of proprietary software is not only are people paid to look after the performance of your software, but often upgrades and other benefits are provided for no additional cost.

Unlike open source technology, where usually not only do you have to be made aware that an upgrade exists, you then have to pay someone to implement it.

Free enterprise versus free software

Like most other supplies to business, competition and regulation ensure that proprietary providers hum along quite happily. Basically, you get what you pay for.

Most technology-focused pundits have waxed lyrical about exactly what the open source platforms, widgets and code you can get these days ‘for completely free’.

Of course, despite what you might hear, there is no such thing as a free lunch – there is always something in it for the ‘shouter’.

There are always hidden costs, motives or deals that are lurking in the background – the most obvious being that while the ‘programming code’ or software may be free, the labour required to gear it to your specific needs is not, or the ‘free’ bit is just the entry level bit – you need to pay for an upgrade to get the full bells and whistles.

No bucks to stop!

But what many of these open source proponents aren’t grasping is that when something is free, not only is there nowhere for the buck to stop, there is no buck!

What this means is that if something falls over, there is someone to complain to and even sue if worst comes to worst – knowing full well that the provider in turn will have the appropriate insurance or contingency plan in place.

With open source, there is nobody to be accountable and remedy any problems. It’s a ‘buyer beware’ landscape that ultimately, nobody is accountable for.

This might be all well and good for enthusiasts who just move from one free platform to the next, but for their poor incumbent clients, they are left with a website built in a previous flavour of the month.

Businesses need and are prepared to pay for, a buck to stop somewhere.

Business operators know that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. That’s why they pay as much as they can afford for crucial support services like accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers, promotional professionals and others.

They know too that despite the costs of these services, their cost is tax deductible, so in effect costs them nothing. They are a tax deductible cost of doing business.

A wild west web

All of this criticism isn’t to decry or belittle these contributions from what is essentially a talented community. But this kind of collaboration and ‘free gift to the world’ runs into problems in a business world which is both used to paying and prepared to do so.

It’s one reason why the web itself creates such headaches for regulators. Ordinarily there is someone to point the bone at in times of failure, abuse or poor performance.

But when it is essentially a ‘gift to the community’ users can only use it at their own risk and suffer the consequences if something falls over.

Hence the legal minefield created by Wikileaks, the St Kilda schoolgirl, cyber bullies, Napster, etc.

So what has all of this to do with small business?

As it turns out, plenty.

Implications for your business

Because when your website falls over, or when your developer goes on a sabbatical, or when an upgrade is not only expensive but ‘hasn’t really been done before’ and a myriad of other issues, not only do you not have anyone to pursue and seek remedy and/or compensation from.

Which begs the question, if it ain’t broke why fix it? Or if the business model of proprietary software works completely satisfactorily, why change it?

Non-free systems are accountable, supported and are constantly improving, otherwise they go out of business.

It’s a natural protection mechanism to ensure that you get the best technology you can afford.

To free or not to free

Because I am not a web ‘developer’ as such (I am best described as a ‘consulting webmaster’), my motivation is not which program I best understand but which program ultimately delivers the best result for my client.

Therefore I am completely open-minded about open source solutions.

Time and time again I’ve checked out open source solutions and compared them to proprietary alternatives. But I’ve found that over time they simply do not offer the best value for the client for many of the reasons outlined above. And given they fundamentally aren’t motivated by financial gain (unlike most of their proponents), they’re unlikely to ever will be.