Small Business Software
Doghouse – Economics
An affordable open source POS/ERP system has many potential benefits for small businesses.
My entire professional career has been coupled with what we now call open source or free software. Whether it be software written by users and donated to user groups like DECUS or SHARE, or the Unix system (not really free in any sense), which eventually led to BSD and GNU/Linux, I always appreciated access to the source code so I could get my solutions to work. It is somewhat gratifying that companies that once wailed about free software being communistic are now embracing it and hoping to have "unity" with the FOSSH community (while still making money for their stockholders).
Another thing I've seen happening over more than 25 years is that the number of FOSSH developers has increased from 130,000 (the first time I tallied it up) to millions of developers with hundreds of thousands of projects. Even large commercial companies are using FOSSH to develop products, which creates many good products at a lower cost with even greater profits for their stockholders.
In the past year, there has been a pandemic (you may have noticed), and many small restaurants, bars, hotels, and stores have closed. While we do not yet know how many small businesses will go under due to the pandemic, we can only hope that many are able to continue on and that eventually many new small businesses will emerge. One thing we do know is that successful small businesses are good for the economy.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Fedora 44 Now Gaming Ready
The latest version of Fedora has been released with gaming support.
-
Manjaro 26.1 Preview Unveils New Features
The latest Manjaro 26.1 preview has been released with new desktop versions, a new kernel, and more.
-
Microsoft Issues Warning About Linux Vulnerability
The company behind Windows has released information about a flaw that affects millions of Linux systems.
-
Is AI Coming to Your Ubuntu Desktop?
According to the VP of Engineering at Canonical, AI could soon be added to the Ubuntu desktop distribution.
-
Framework Laptop 13 Pro Competes with the Best
Framework has released what might be considered the MacBook of Linux devices.
-
The Latest CachyOS Features Supercharged Kernel
The latest release of CachyOS brings with it an enhanced version of the latest Linux kernel.
-
Kernel 7.0 Is a Bit More Rusty
Linux kernel 7.0 has been released for general availability, with Rust finally getting its due.
-
France Says "Au Revoir" to Microsoft
In a move that should surprise no one, France announced plans to reduce its reliance on US technology, and Microsoft Windows is the first to get the boot.
-
CIQ Releases Compatibility Catalog for Rocky Linux
The company behind Rocky Linux is making an open catalog available to developers, hobbyists, and other contributors, so they can verify and publish compatibility with the CIQ lineup.
-
KDE Gets Some Resuscitation
KDE is bringing back two themes that vanished a few years ago, putting a bit more air under its wings.