About
Our aim is to introduce open source software as a viable solution to business. We have experience with working with the products we recommend, and we have demonstration versions set up to make access effortless – we know its fiddly to install lots of different products to try because we’ve done it.
Even though the software is “free1”, we know that doesn’t mean it can always be implemented with no cost to the consumer! You will usually need some kind of server for the software to reside on and also some technical knowledge to install and configure the tools you would like to use. We offer both set up and hosting services for the products, which means if you need to include either or both of these services in your plans for new software then we can help, either in practical ways or in an advisory capacity.
The open source movement is built on a distinct model – as well as the product itself you also get access to the source code and the right to change it as you wish. So if a user finds a product which does most of what they want, they might make an alteration to make it perform the task they had in mind, and then contribute their enhancement back to the community so that it is available for future users. Immediately you can see why the community is known for being mostly populated by computer programmers! This ability to change certain aspects of the program is a great feature – and although it may cost in terms of development time, if you start from a free product the result can still be markedly cheaper than its commercial rivals. Any changes you do make can be done by anyone with the relevant skills, there’s no vendor lock-in because you have the code and can ask anyone at all to work on it.
Have a look around the site, and if you have any questions then just drop us a line at info@woollyblanket.co.uk and we’ll do our best to help!
1 this is usually described as “free as in speech, not free as in beer”, basically meaning that you have the freedom to use the software as you wish and to change it how you like.