Abstract

 Reiser, Hans    Should Developers Be Preferred Service Providers   

Should Developers Be Preferred Service Providers

Abstract

Support contracts were once thought to be capable of making free software a viable business model. The percentage of users who purchase support from the developers for proprietary software is reasonably high. The percentage of users who purchase support for free software from the developers is extraordinarily small. Economic rationality is not the determinant. Generally speaking, free software developers provide much more expert support, and do so at a lower price. The reason seems to be as simple as: people are willing to buy support only if it is an add-on for a purchase that a check is already being cut for. Governments can have a major impact on the business viability of free software if they can overcome this, and if they explicitly adopt procurement policies that require that the software developers be preferred providers for support. I will talk about possible mechanisms by which this can be done, why it is in the governmental interest to do so, and seek to engage the audience in a dialogue on this topic. I will also discuss why this is probably best done via policy mechanisms created at the highest levels of governmental procurement management.