Part I -
I will be addressing some open source questions and issues that I have faced at most of the startups I have delved into. One most pressing question asked is open source free, well it is free and all depends on how you are planning to use it.
As a startup you want/need to keep your operating costs at the bare minimum to avoid any fast burn rates. In the real world software licenses cost big bucks.
To offset these monies you need to make sure that you are not compromising your startup’s goal by using an open source software/hardware, just because everyone around you is talking about it and it is the cool fashion thing among the nerds.
Open source, the word seems pretty straight forward, but each open source tool/app has it own innards and workings. The best scenario would be to read the GPL, CCL or the different license names used.
In one of my previous stints, the investors wanted to keep the costs so low that it was as good as running the show at 0$’s. Well this would be a good choice or idea if the product which was being worked on would be an executable product using the forced upon open source platform. The back of forth of making decisions on what needs to be used, made the products FTM (first to market) at a low point percent and late as First Movers.
There are lessons learned in everyday life and every cup of coffee in the day helps remember those by the time you hit bed.
Tags: hardware, open source, software
