[Freegis-list] MapServer/FreeGIS and the market

[Bernhard Reiter]

Hi Dave,

On Tue, Dec 14, 2004 at 09:00:21AM -0500, Dave McIlhagga wrote:
> In Canada we are beginning to see more and more job postings that do 
> include experience with MapServer. 

thanks for sharing the perspective.
It is quite good to see that Free Software business is taking up
speed in Canada.  In Germany Intevation also sees Free Software 
business growing continuously. It is very important that there are
companies that sell the benefits of the freedom to compete to customers 
and decision makers.

> the value that comes from the technology, 
> and the open source software development approach. 

While Free Software tend to have an open development approach,
there is not particular development method bound to it.
Especially there is Free Software software that is developed closed.
In some settings that even makes some sense, but usually it does not.

> Very different arguments and messages appeal to decision makers, 
> and unfortunately, too often individuals or companies only promote 
> technical and "free" benefits of open source software.

We found that promoting the freedom of competition to be very helpful,
and my experience is that customers have a good understanding that 
the accompaning services are not without costs for them.

Best,
	Bernhard
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