What if the software supplier goes out of business?
I am going to pay for support for any software open or closed source. However, with open source, I can almost always get some support.
I am going to pay for support for any software open or closed source. However, with open source, I can almost always get some support.
One bad side effect of the FOSS movement is that customers are now conditioned to expect that open source software literally means free software including free support, free updates, and free bugfixes. So when you do try to build a company around offering support and timely bugfixes people don't think they need it.
Really? The people I know expect free message boards, possibly peopled with the people who wrote the software (why is this not the case in the closed-source world?), and message-board-level technical help. This may well be good enough to fix problems, but you obviously can't build the classic business "Blame Avoidance Contract" on message boards.