How can FOSS benefit a global marketing agency

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When it comes to running a global marketing agency, it can be very expensive to keep up-to-date software. The money it takes to license software, and then to update it or maintain it, can really add up to a company’s expense. Fortunately, with technology developing at breakneck speed now, there are other options available – namely free and open-source software (FOSS).

In fact, some businesses have pivoted to use FOSS alternatives. According to a survey done by consulting firm BCG, 99% of Fortune 500 companies use them. But why would a business choose to use FOSS alternatives instead of proprietary software? Here, you can read more about the advantages and benefits that FOSS can bring, and whether you should start using them too.

What is FOSS

As its name suggests, FOSS is software that has its source code free and publicly available. This means that anyone can use, study, and modify the code to their heart’s content. The main premise of FOSS is that people are encouraged to improve the use and design of the software. It allows them to contribute to its future development as a community. There are four essential freedoms for an application to be considered as FOSS:

• The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0)
• The freedom to study, and change the program as you wish (freedom 1)
• The freedom to redistribute copies (freedom 2)
• The freedom to distribute your modified versions to others (freedom 3)

Surprisingly, the term ‘free’ is not used to refer to software having zero monetary value. However, some free and open-source software does cost money.  A vast majority of them are also free of charge. It is instead used in the same way as the term ‘free speech.’ As such, this makes FOSS the complete opposite of proprietary software. With proprietary software, the source code is not made available, and they are owned, meaning that you cannot modify or redistribute the software. Its licensing fees also tend to be extremely high.

In the past, most businesses tended to look at FOSS with skepticism. This was due to the widespread belief that anything free could not be as good as the paid version. While this used to be the case, with FOSS previously having a reputation for low quality and bad user interfaces, it has come a long way since then. Now, some FOSS applications function incredibly well that it is almost impossible to tell that free software did the job. Here are a few more advantages of why businesses and agencies should use FOSS.

Low or no cost

One of the biggest advantages a business has to using FOSS is that it either costs very little in comparison to proprietary software, or it does not cost anything at all. As stated above, there are quite a few FOSS applications that are free to download. For instance, if you want graphic design software but do not want to pay Adobe’s subscription fees (which can rack up large expenses in the long run), then you can download GIMP (a photo editing software) and Inkscape (a vector editing software), which are both completely free to use.

No vendor lock-in

When a digital agency chooses to use FOSS applications, they have the freedom to pick and choose the exact type of software to use. Most of this software also runs really well on a wide variety of products and operating systems – be they Linux, Windows, or macOS. Moreover, because most of these applications cost little to nothing, companies can try them out before committing to using them, meaning less risk for agencies in the long run, especially if they are small or startups.

This could not be further from the truth when it comes to proprietary software, as most businesses would be locked into using a particular developer’s products for a very long time, which can cost more in the long run. For instance, if you choose to use the Adobe suite, you will be saddled with all of their software, which you may not even use or need. Whereas if you decide to utilize FOSS, you only have to download the software you truly require for your tasks.

Reliability

FOSS tends to have smoother updates and is more bug-free. This is because the source code is open to everyone. This means that any developer can automatically go to improve the software. As such, with so many eyes on the program. Any hidden bugs and glitches can be easily found and corrected in FOSS applications. Updates also tend to be smoother and quicker too.

In addition to being free of charge. If you use commercial software, updates and bug fixes do not come as fast because it takes time for the small team of developers to locate and solve any mistakes that have arisen. Moreover, not every update is free. Sometimes a company may choose to charge for new versions of software. Sometimes, the older version may even be withdrawn, forcing users to pay to update. This is fortunately not something you need to worry about if your business uses FOSS applications.

Functionality

If you are worried that FOSS applications may not be able to measure up to proprietary software. Nowadays, most of them feature many of the same functions as their proprietary counterparts. For instance, most users may find that they can do much the same thing in LibreOffice that they could do with Microsoft Word. The same is mostly true if they use GIMP instead of Photoshop, Inkscape instead of Illustrator, or Scribus instead of InDesign. Some FOSS applications may lack some extremely advanced functions. However, they have most of the basics covered so that users will barely be missing out.

No restrictions

As a result of the four essential freedoms that make up FOSS. Anyone can edit or modify the source code to their liking. For example, if the software meets 90% of your agency’s needs, you can hire developers to slightly tweak the software. This is done so that it can meet 100% of your requirements. Moreover, there is no restriction to whom you give the software. They can all be given a copy of the software free of charge. If employees want to load that application on their home devices, then they can choose to do so without any problems.