[TriLUG] Can open source solutions be viable companies?

[Vestal, Roy L.]

Ed Hill wrote:
I totally agree with the view that open source is great for users and
developers but difficult (though not impossible) as a business model
*IF* your business centers mostly around the selling of software.

Our business is research, not software development or selling of software.
We are looking at Linux as a viable alternative to "requiring" the client to
have to use a costly platform, whether *nix based, Windows based, Mac based,
etc.  We're trying to build a cross-platform deliverable that can be
installed on any platform.

I.E.:
One client wants us to build an Oracle database to hold their data. Once the
project is over, we have to give all the data and the database to the
client, they own it as part of the contract. Since Oracle is multiplatform,
we can easily (if that word is allowed speaking of Oracle) "transfer" the
database from a Linux based platform to a Windows based platform.

This particular client is wanting to have it developed and maintained on
Linux, so we are looking at Linux being the ONLY OS that we use for an
Enterprise wide Oracle initiative.  The overhead is cheaper by a little over
$2,000 a month over Solaris, and more than that over Microsoft. The "catch"
is the old fight we all have to fight: "Open source is not as secure as
closed source becaus everyone has it". Same Argument Different Day (SADD).