Open Source ERP?

This story really makes me shake my head and ask “WHY?“.

The reason it caught my eye, was an ISV had spoken to me about this a few months ago. They wanted to port the product to C#, and make it connect to ANY database, not just oracle. I should check on them and see how they are going with the port. I also wonder if they have thought more about their business model, since they are essentially creating a free product, even though they are investing their own $$ to develop this product. I guess they have lots of other stuff to sell.

Anyways, have a read of the story..

Most of the publicity about open source software recently has centred around Linux. Indeed, to many people, open source software and Linux are almost interchangeable terms.

But there is much more to it than Linux. A variety of software is available in open source. Websites such as Sourceforge and Freshmeat list thousands of open source utilities and applications that anyone can download at no cost.

Open source databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL are widely used around the world, often in production applications, and the Apache web server is more widely used than its commercial competitors. Clearly, something is happening.

There is still a perception in many quarters that open source software is nerdy, techy stuff with plenty of rough edges. That is often the case but it is not always so. There is also a perception that it is immature software that is not ready for serious mission-critical applications. That is also not always the case.

Nowhere is the maturity of open source software more evident than in the release of Compiere, which is - believe it or not - open source ERP software. ERP stands for "enterprise resource planning", and it is the shorthand term for the applications software suites that run large organisations. [more]