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Many people are curious about free software and open source but don't know where to start. You might have read about some major organisation starting a Linux trial but the article did not provide enough details. In such a situation, the best thing to do is learn more, gain some understanding and then revise your position in the light of better information.
One of the major open source licenses is the GPL and the legal implications of the GPL have received some media attention. Still, a lot of people treat the idea with uncertainty. Although not legal counsel, Linux Bespoke can help answer some questions about open source licenses and help you find places on the Web where these things are discussed. Many of the questions that you are asking, probably have been asked before.
Many end users don't put their system to full use, not because they are lacking in any real ability but merely because no one has explained to them what they can do and how they can learn about their tools.
Often a small amount of end user training can reduce
maintenance and increase productivity. Part of the open
philosophy is to try to empower the end user rather than
entrap them and the first step is to provide them with
the ability to learn how to learn. Once they are away
and exploring for themselves, they feel more confident knowing
they have someone to ask for help when they get stuck.
Soon they can handle spreadsheets, document layouts and
database queries and they are productively contributing
their results back into the pool for other users.
The value of end-user training is apparent in all computing environments but most significant in an open source environment. A great many open source enhancements have been contributed by end-users. These enhancements are very useful precisely because they come from the people who needed them. In effect this tightens the loop between requirements and implementation. Even when the implementation of this sort of feature starts out with poor (but adequate) program code, usually someone with better programming skill comes along and re-implements the same feature more cleanly. The package as a whole evolves in a favourable direction as it gets pushed by user demand. It all starts with users who understand just a little more than average about what their system can really achieve.
How is it possible that the Linux kernel could be rapidly developed by thousands of people all around the world, loosely affiliated, without a formal management hierarchy, without a traditional promotion and payroll system, and without a corporate structure?
Other companies have undertaken their projects by writing extensive software design documents, specifications, requirements models, top down design and employ huge teams with weekly progress meetings, team building camps, management training, project managers, team leaders, middle managers, upper managers, finance managers, board of directors, board of shareholders, etc. Yet these projects, with all these resources, still don't finish on time and frequently do not deliver a satisfactory result to the end user.
Open source projects have shown the ability to achieve much more with much less by concentrating on open communications, avoiding secrecy and adopting a flexible development strategy with only one central tenant: go with what works for you. The system involves constant exchange of both source code and ideas between a large group of people, resulting in constant peer review and high quality, rapid development.
If you think that some of this approach is relevant to your business or just want to keep abreast of what is happening in the software world then this could be a worthwhile area to explore.
The world of free software is wide and varied, but key nodes have formed where discussion takes place and where code repositories have been created. Knowing how to use these resources gives you the advantage of being able to browse the work of other people and scan the software horizon for useful material. The majority of these projects are downloadable under an open source license so if you find something useful then you have the chance to give it a try.
WARNING: the free software world is BIG, very, extremely big, you can get lost going through these lists. Also, not all the programs are good, being selective is essential.