Kicking the Tires
I just remembered a great OS quote I heard that I wanted to share with you all. I was reading this post by Matt Asay where he says:
Open-source software services tend to focus on giving enterprises a custom fit, whereas proprietary-software services focus on getting the software to work, and then later adding on customization as a separate consulting engagement.
The reason for this is clear: enterprises can download and kick the tires on open-source software without SI involvement. They can know - for free - whether the software will work. The proprietary world almost always requires payment before getting access to the software necessary to do such evaluation, whether it’s the upfront license fee or a paid proof of concept.
It reminded me of a speaker who said that with open source software you not only get to kick the tires but drive it cross country before you buy. Basically you can use the application just as you would in your real-world setting and see if it meets your needs and pin point areas where you might want improvements/changes.