Truly Open Source
Open mSupply code is free to view, copy and modify…
Open mSupply code is free to view, copy and modify…
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!
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 opens the door to shifting the power balance back towards countries toward have had a history of being exploited by others.
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!
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.
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.
If you want us to spend time training you or your teams either remotely or in person, we’ll need to cover our costs.