It seems like the FOSS community is continuing to grow, and FOSS apps keep getting better (Immich reallh blew my mind recently), which is a big win 😎 but there are still many apps I use that I would kill for an open source alternative. I am curious what you guys think? Are there any apps you’d love alternatives for?
Free in FOSS stands more for what you’re allowed to do than what it costs. The devs have to support themselves somehow, the project is absolutely massive and has a bunch of dedicated developers on the payroll.
Nah, this ain’t FOSS, it’s source partially available drawbackware. There’s a list of features you don’t get unless you pay for it. That ain’t free as in speech, not the way the Linux kernel is. That ain’t Stallman style “and give it away to anyone who can find a use for it.”
I could understand if the business gave away the management software, and charged for, say, integration with payment/banking services, cloud hosting, tech support etc, things which are services that cost money. But according to this page inventory management via barcode scanner is a cost option? Is the free version of the software also restricted to ten active customers at a time?
Calling commercial drawbackware “FOSS” because they open some of the source code is fraudulent. I’ll be bringing this to the attention of the FTC.
You get access to the source code you use. If you pay for an enterprise license, you can access the enterprise source code too, but it’s indeed a proprietary license, you can’t really sell modifications.
I do wish it was fully free & open source (because that wouldn’t affect me, I’m not on their payroll, I just work with the software), but I still prefer the current model over Dynamics 365 or SAP (though I believe Microsoft open sourced some or all of their Dynamics 365 Business Central code too? I haven’t really kept up).
If Odoo ever decides to close their open source business and only offer it with a closed source, you bet your ass there are going to be dozens of forks of the latest open source version. I’m fairly sure my own employer would do the same, our CTO is an open source evangelist. Would probably RiiR the core even.
Not sure why you think the FTC would be the best body to talk to here. Odoo is not an American company, but rather a Belgian one.
Do they do business in America?
There’s a localization module available for the US, it should handle the arcane tax code and everything, but I haven’t tried.