Free Software versus Private Software: Pros and Cons for your selection

Every year the Technologists (Developers and Users) continue the important debate on whether Free Software (SL) and Open Source (CA), especially everything related to the GNU / Linux duo, has or has achieved enough, To position itself as an alternative it would be before the Private Software (SP) and Closed Code (CC), especially everything related to the Microsoft / Apple Duo, both at Home and Organizations.

And each new moment of the debate brings its new arguments, points of view, incentives, contributions and negatives. Although it is an undeniable fact that the SL / CA gains more and more relevance, importance and degree of usability and users, both at Home and in Organizations. Although in the end everything ends depending on who you ask and who uses what and for what. Regardless of the advantages and disadvantages that can be easily identified in both types of Software.

Introduction

For those of us who are constantly immersed In the SL World, we have no doubt of the great advances that it has had in terms of usability, massification and security, among many other areas. So we could easily conclude that the whole picture is very promising.

The open, collaborative and principled model of the SL Community obviously has a lot to offer, and more so in these times where an art of the business sector that participates fully or is part of the World of the SP / CC has appreciated, understood, and even accepted and resolutely assimilated the contributions of the World of the SL / CA, in a very pro- active.

And although many are not so convinced yet, and constantly delay or prevent that the SL, and specifically Linux, has not yet become the de facto Desktop of the majority of the Computers of the majority of the users, home and business, the possibilities of success continue to grow so that the SL and GNU / Linux prevail in the Desktop of the common and current user.

In short, very surely during the next decade we will see entire Homes and Organizations with computer platforms based on SL / CA concepts., especially as information sharing and joint innovation become more widespread.

Contents

Pros

• Low acquisition costs: The initial investment in SL / CA is significantly less than with SP / CC. At the user level it will depend on the selected Linux Distribution. At the Servers level, there will always be a notable saving due to the licensing of the installed OS and System.
• Source code availability: Unlimited or quasi-unlimited availability and access to the source code to make the necessary adjustments, modifications, adaptations or corrections via our own programmers.
• Excellent Support: A huge Community ready to provide solutions or documentation to all kinds of situations with the SL / CA. In addition, from a large number of electronic newsletters, mailing lists with help available.
• Good stability and safety: Operating Systems and Applications based on SL / CA are usually less vulnerable to malicious Software such as viruses, malware, spyware, ransomware, among others.
• Excellent Connectivity: It includes the necessary functionalities for connectivity with other proprietary platforms, in order to integrate efficiently with current IT environments.
• Possibility of using more accessible Hardware: The SL / CA is usually just as functional over old or modern HW but underperforming (cheap), so an upgrade to SL / CA does not mean in new modern or current HW costs.
• Easy to install: In general, today's OS / CA-based Operating Systems and Applications can be up and running with just a few questions and in a relatively short setup / setup time.

Cons

• Incompatibility with certain SW / HW: Not all SW / HWs have SL / CA support or compatibility, but the gap with them narrows over time, and there are almost always reasonable alternatives.
• Longer learning curve: Currently, Operating Systems and Applications based on SP / CC are more widely used, both at Home and in Organizations, so users new to Operating Systems and Applications based on SL / CA may need more and better training, in a older time.
• Resistance to Change in Human Talent (Users, Technicians and Managers): Initially and mainly the users will have difficulties to accept any change, to avoid greater efforts of learning and adaptation. This also usually happens at the level of certain IT personnel. At the Bosses level, the impact at the Time / Productivity level is usually considered in cases where the implementation process is not properly managed.
• Specialized support in Multimedia and Entertainment: In some cases, advanced or specialized users in the use of Operating Systems and Applications based on specific SP / CC for the Management / Use of Multimedia Content or Games often complicate the implementation of a successful and massive ecosystem of Operating Systems and Applications based on SL / AC. Many times with good support in this regard because in these cases the SP / CC usually still has significant advantages.

Conclusion

The SL / CA world has many important advantages to weigh over the SP / CC world. However, among many things, for example, it should not be believed a priori that the use of SL / CA programs will save us money or lower costs from the first day of implementation and use. But surely if what you want is to achieve a good return on investment (ROI) and save money in the long term, the use of SL / CA can be an excellent option to consider.

Strong points like savings to be obtained from licensing costs and the low impact of problems and downtime caused by malware and other malicious programs that gives us the SL / CA They favor a true success in any migration to be implemented under good planning.

Introduce SL / CA programs and platforms in phases, As users get used to using many of these applications under Windows / Mac-OS due to their multiplatform condition, it can be a useful strategy so that the final and total adoption of SL / CA is not something so shocking or intolerable.

Long live Free Software and Open Source.