Yes, there are some good programs that you can use if you do not want to use the Microsoft version. Star Office/Open Office is a great program that has nearly all the features the Microsoft product has.
Open Office is a great open source business productivity suite. It is a Java product and is freely distributable.
The best bet for a small business would be an open source reporting software such as Eclipse BIRT Project, GNU Enterprise, JasperReports, LibreOffice, or PentaHo.
Generally, the answer is yes. Check the license that comes with the software.
The cost or money. Less money to the business unit to spend on an open source software. (someone did the design, development, and testing already, and it maybe free)
Open source software is software that allows the source code to be used. Oftentimes, they are free to use. Open source software is copyrighted.
I prefer open source software.
The company Alfresco features a document management software that is open source. As a result, it is easy to use and has a nice interface. You can even use it as a network drive.
There are various open source software available, such as Ephesoft, OpenKM , TreeLine and many more and such open source software are vary useful for business industries for their business growth. Below are some advantages of Open Source Software - Reliability Security Lesser hardware costs Lower software costs High-quality software Fast deployment Integrated management Abundant support
Open source software allows anybody to revise and reformat the software to suit their individual needs. Open source software is usually developed together and publically.
no....because an open source software is distributed for free
The answer is in the question itself. Open-source software has it's source code available to everyone. Closed-source software does not.
Some of the best business management process software is available online for free. ProcessMaker is open source software that covers virtually every aspect of business.