The Value of Open Source Software:
Sandals, Savings or Services?
Roger Warner, Director, Squiz
It’s September 2006, and, after eight years as an open source business, Squiz is
now in a position to describe the true value of open source software. Not that much
has changed, mind. As those who know us will testify, we’ve always espoused the
model I’m about to describe. It’s just that until now hype, hoopla and market expectations
have tended to cloud things.
Open source is, and always should be, understood as an innovation in ‘value’ (in
its broadest sense) as opposed to an innovation in technology. Basically, it has
‘cried wolf’ on commercial software and led us to question the substance of what
we’re paying for.