Saving money with Open Source software

“In the end, Postgres looks to me like it’s saving us like 5X in hardware costs as we continue to grow.”

This comment  was published on Redit about an article that compares PostgreSQL with MS SQL Server. I will not join the raging battle between the two clans and I am leaving the field to those who know best.

This article made me rethink the reasons why I like Open Source.

Why do I like Open Source?

This might be a very romantic view but I still believe people are good at working together for the benefit of our society.  So what is Open Source? Open Source software is software whose code can be modified or enhanced by anyone.

Born from a grassroots movement, Open Source brings:

• Collaboration between people who may never meet but have the same vision
• Delivery of lower cost products as there are no big companies or shareholders behind the projects
• Strong motivation from individuals who have a huge interest in writing code, making other members of the community enthusiastic about their projects
• Flexibility as individuals make improvements which are then made available to the public

For all these reasons and a lot more, PostgreSQL is a good example of Open Source software and its movement. For example, 2ndQuadrant employees are significant contributors to the development of PostgreSQL with many of the features found in the current version developed by their people. Their latest addition is BDR (Bi-directional replication), an extension to PostgreSQL, free and Open Source which will be integrated to future versions of PostgreSQL.

Will Open Source saves us money? That I suppose will be the question for many years to come?