The Truth About ‘Free’ Software for Nonprofits

With very little profit motive, free-software developers can concentrate on making excellent products, not just excellent revenue streams. Proprietary companies generally release new versions of software at a much slower pace, since they have marketing and packaging concerns to address.

Most free software is distributed via the Internet, with no packaging or shipping logistics to worry about, so it can be released and updated more frequently -- as the features require, not as a sales schedule requires. Free-software developers generally listen closely to their users, and have an active interest in implementing the features they need. Because the software is free (as in speech), end users are allowed to modify it for their specific needs, adding or removing features as they see fit.