TANSTAAFL

In a recent conversation at the company cafeteria, the talk shifted to how difficult it is to use OpenOffice.org over Microsoft Word. Some colleagues were complaining that the time it takes them to learn the ropes is eating into their "productivity" (read: less coffee trips to the pantry).

One co-worker commented, "'Buti na lang, libre." ("It's a good thing it's free.") I asked, smirking, "Which one, the coffee or the software?"

I would have launched into a "free-beer-and-free-speech" tirade, were it not for the yummy lunch we're having, but just the same, I told them that the software being free doesn't just mean the bottomline. Of course, there would be migration issues, but don't blame OpenOffice.org (and other free and/or open source software {FOSS}) for that — blame Microsoft for creating, nay, subverting standards and locking them in so they'd only work in MS products. "Besides," I said, "TANSTAAFL." (Big puzzled frowns follow.)

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch," I clarified. Shifting to open source software — or any other tool for that matter — entails costs. Even if it's supposedly "free" as in you don't pay anything (except maybe for the bandwidth when downloading the software), there are still other things to consider: the learning curve, the time it takes in moving up or scaling, etc.

But having costs don't mean it's just as bad as the old (proprietary) one. The argument that if it does cost something, why make the shift at all, will just not hold water anymore. Because there are other benefits, as well. Like, not being held hostage by a single entity and being forced to upgrade (and adjust, and re-learn) whenever they tell you to. Like, being able to freely give away to others without fear of some mob-like outfit breathing down your neck demanding that you pay them. Like, being able to fix things yourself, get under the hood, if you are able and you feel up to it, instead of waiting and twiddling your thumbs while some flunkie tech support guy gives you a runaround whenever something goes bunk.

So it may not really be a freebie, but FOSS lets you do these other things that you may otherwise be missing when using MS and others.

And speaking of lunch, I almost forgot to pay on the way out. :P