Open Source is one of those buzzwords that probably does not matter much to most people, but it is our bread and butter. Here at DBS, we use Open Source products to run our servers. We use it to build and manage websites. We use it for hosting, marketing campaigns and internal business applications. It isn’t just us, though. Much of the Internet is built with Open Source products. Google, for instance, is built on an Open Source operating system called Linux and it seems it has worked out OK for those guys (understatement of the year). And an Open Source web server called Apache has been the #1 web server on the planet since 1996 (based on Netcraft web surveys) despite Microsoft’s effort to flex its muscles in the server realm. Firefox, the web browser, is something that possibly resonates with more people and it is also Open Source.

Okay…so Open Source matters to us, but why should it matter to our clients? Well, because there are a number of benefits to Open Source development that trickle down and benefit our clients, and ultimately, our client’s users. Using Open Source tools will allow us to produce quality products that:

· Often save us from having to re-invent the wheel, time and time again. Shorter Development Time matters.

· Allow for fast adoption of new web-based technologies. Because open source projects tend to be reflection of the latest web technologies, they tend to foster those technologies. Technology matters.

· Offer better support for web standards. By their nature, Open Source products are the opposite of vendors that try to circumvent standards with proprietary protocols. Standards matter too.

· Cost less. As crass as it may sound, saving money always matters.

These are meat and potato reasons our customers receive tangible benefits from our participation in the Open Source software community. They are more likely to get a quality product, faster, and cheaper than if the same project were built solely with proprietary, closed source products.

There is one last, philosophical reason why Open Source matters: because it is open and because it is “free”. We, in the United States, live in a free and open society. At least, we aspire to those lofty ideals. We preach and foster their acceptance around the globe and find it hard to apply any kind of negative connotation. We have free speech, a free press, freedom to worship as we please (or not), freedom of choice, free assembly and so on. Free is good, no?

Yes, free access to the code we use to build servers, sites and applications is a good thing. It allows us to share and improve a global codebase that is open to all of us, not just the few. It is not held in proprietary hands and licensed to us temporarily as the masters of that codebase see fit. It belongs to us, we, the people. Yes, freedom matters too.

Open Source matters.

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