[NTLUG:Discuss] to 'sell' or not to sell opensource

[David A Venable]

When I was a consultant, The only time that I included software on an 
invoice was if it was for anything that was commercially licensed (M$ 
Operating Systems, Quickbooks, etc.) and when I used opensource products, 
I generally billed that as custom design or implementation time. I wasn't 
required to collect sales tax on the software (Only hardware that was 
used). I usually showed up to sell the product or solution with two 
quotes. One was for my "Solution" using opensource and one was for the 
commercial license way to go which was usually much higher than the 
opensource way. I sweetened the deal with a service deal for both quotes. 
The opensource service deal was always cheaper since it was easier to 
remotely troubleshoot and manage than most commercial products. The bottom 
line usually won out when the guarantee was provided by my company for 
service and support.

Dave

On Wed, 21 May 2003, Richard Geoffrion wrote:

> I have found that many customers and potential customers do NOT like the
> concept of FREE software.  They can not get over the concept of having a
> company take responsibility for software used in their production
> environments.
> 
>