Setting up an ’omics platform in a small biotech - Open Source Software in Life Science Research - page 251

event of a problem that we are not able to resolve ourselves then there are
usually many other users who can offer a solution or make suggestions
on how to proceed. Encountering an error with a commercial product
typically requires registration of the error and waiting for someone to do
something about it. Even then you may have to wait for the next release
before the fi x is available to implement.
Similarly, by having access to the source code, there is the opportunity
to adapt or extend the functionality to individual requirements as they
may arise. In contrast, the functionality of a commercial product is
decided by the manufacturers and any additions to this are decided by
them alone. FLOSS also avoids the vagaries of a commercial manufacturer,
for instance they may choose to amalgamate distinct products into a
single offering. This then forces the users to use this new product if they
want to keep using the most up-to-date version of the software. We have
had experience of this with one piece of software that was incorporated
into a more enterprising solution. Interestingly, after a couple of
intermediate releases, the standalone product is now being made
available. Similarly, commercial vendors control support for older
versions of their products and decide when they will stop supporting
older releases. Users are powerless to prevent this and helpless to its
effects, which can mean they are forced to upgrade even when they would
not choose to do so.
In conclusion, FLOSS has signifi cant market share, and performs as
well as commercial products with increased fl exibility and adaptability.
As such, I foresee it retaining a central role in OGTs 'omics platform.

10.10 Acknowledgements

￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿

I would like to thank Volker Brenner and Daniel Swan at OGT for
reviewing and their helpful suggestions. Also, I would like to thank Lee
Harland for his valuable editorial suggestions on the submitted
manuscript.

10.11 References

[1] 'Microarrays: Chipping away at the mysteries of science and medicine.'
[Online]. Available: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About/primer/microarrays.html .
[2] 'Samba - Opening Windows to a wider world.' [Online]. Available: www.
samba.org .