What is “Open Source”?

Software where the source code is available to others to view, copy, learn from, share, or change

Think of open-source code as a recipe for an application. The recipe is available online for anyone to look at, use, or change in their own homes, but they can’t change the meal you cooked or the original recipe unless you let them!

Open source gives you…

Stability – It takes away the reliance on the original creators of the software, which makes it useful for important, long-term projects.
Security – All our code is available for anyone to audit, which contributes to secure, robust applications that keep everyone’s data safe.
Skills transfer – Open code is a step towards transferring and increasing development skills in low to middle income countries.
Ownership – Commercial licensing locks you in. Open source can shift the power balance back towards countries that have had a history of being exploited by others.

Show me the code!

Here you go:

• Open mSupply
• Conforma Front end and Back end
• mSupply Notify
• mSupply Coldchain

Open source doesn’t mean “everything is free”!

A great analogy we once heard:

“Imagine being given a puppy – the initial gift is free but you then need to invest resources into growing and nurturing the puppy.’

Open mSupply is the same!

What about the requirement to use legacy mSupply?

Yes, it’s true that for a multi-site syncing system you still need to use our central mSupply server that uses our legacy mSupply server that is not open source. We are hard at work building the new central Open mSupply server that can be installed without the legacy server. Here’s the important points

• The current target date to finish that work is: 30th June 2026
• Our aim is to finish earlier than the above date.
• On that date you will be able to install a new, multi-site, synchronising Open mSupply without requiring the legacy mSupply server
• In the meantime, we will provide installations that are installing more than 20 sites with a cost-free installation of legacy mSupply so they pay no license fee.

We offer the following services, which help to nurture Open mSupply:

Core system development

Keeping a large system up to date, and adding new features in an ever-changing world is a job that requires a large team of experienced developers. Realistically, even large countries will struggle with the cost and complexity of doing this well, and it’s much more cost-effective for everyone to spread the cost of core development between the thousands of installations in over 40 countries that use Open mSupply, rather than each country trying to do it themselves.

At the moment the cost of core development is paid for by a combination of support fees and the generous support of the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.

A support contract¹

Support contracts are a little like paying for the fire service: you’re paying for a highly skilled team to be ready for you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Custom development¹

If you want us to change Open mSupply to interact with another system, or add a new report, you can do it yourself with our plugin system, or you can ask us to do the work for you.

Training

If you want us to spend time training you or your teams either remotely or in person, we’ll need to cover our costs.

¹ Support & Custom development are optional – you can choose to not use our services, and you won’t be charged (but neither will you be able to receive our help).