What is open source?
Open Source software is freely available software created by communities of programmers and users for use generally by anyone for any purpose. Unlike commercial software, Open Source software is often in a process of being constantly developed with stable releases appearing very often particularly for popular or very active open source projects. Open source projects cover a whole range of software solutions from e-commerce through to content management systems.
How Can it Help Me?
The first major saving with Open Source software is that it is completely free. A developer can download a complete software solutions and start configuring the system and then modifying it without the need for expensive licenses. The most popular and widely used open source solutions have a very active support community allowing speedy answers to technical problems and help modifying the source code. There are also many extras that the community provide freely to users of Open Source software maintaining high standards through collaboration.
Access directly to the users who have helped shape and develop the core systems also allows long term relationships to develop that can be more future-proof than using commercial offerings or bespoke systems.
One of the most important aspects of open source is that the code is not locked to a provider and is freely accessible to any developer enabling the freedom and ownership to take your system to different development companies without being tied to the supplier. While you will need a company such as Gamma Media to install, configure and host the system the cost of using open source compared to bespoke systems is much reduced.
Is an open source solutions for me?
The most important fact about open source is that the website is completely owned by you. You are not tied to any subscription or third party who may put your website in jeopardy if their business encounters problems.
Just imagine if your shop suddenly disappeared because the 'easy to build website' subscription service suddenly stopped, with no access to your code or the system it was built upon your website would literally vanish.
With Open Source solutions the code is yours, can be transferred, backed up and is a real physical set of files based upon a widely known set of standards. We would never trust our business solely in the hands of a third party.
With Open Source solutions you can choose from literally thousands of developers that know your system inside out, regardless of who it was originally built by, keeping your online business safe, manageable and robust.
Do you need a bespoke system?
There are occassions when the only solution is a complete build from the ground up. This could be because you have specific requirements that open source can not provide, or you want to have complete control over every feature of the website. Gamma Meidia can provide a range of bespoke E-Commerce solutions to fit your technology platform or aspirations for the website. We can build sites on a number of different platforms such as PHP/MYSQL, MSSQL/ASP, Ruby on Rails.
For more information please contact us outlining your requirements.