The Lagoon TechMy little blog in Cyberspace.

Have you ever heard the phrase “everything should be open source”? Do you know why you use open-source software, or do you just use open-source software because a friend recommended it to you or it is the “thing to do”?

I used to frequently look for open-source software a few years ago. My attitude on that changed. I now, for the most part, use whatever I need to get the job done – open source or not.

For example, I use WordPress. That is open-source web software. I use it because it is free and because it fits my needs. Can I use a proprietary solution? Probably, but why would I do that since WordPress fits my needs?

Ask yourself these six questions if you are frequently tempted to always choose open source. If you can answer “Yes” to at least two of these questions, then in my opinion, you are good in choosing the open-source solution over a possible free closed-sourced or paid solution.

1. Do I know anything about the programming language(s) that this open-source software is written in?
2. Do I really need to make any changes to the open-source software, or is having it open source just “the thing to do”?
3. I do not require paid technical support.
4. Does the open-source solution offer features that are even close to the features of the paid (or free closed-source) solution?
5. Does the open-source software have good documentation?
6. Does the open-source software work with the operating system you are most comfortable using (albeit Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, MacOS X, etc.)?