The Truth About ‘Free’ Software for Nonprofits

But for most end users, this last issue seems perplexing: They don’t have the skills to modify the software (even if they wanted to) so what’s the big deal? The big deal is that the freedom to modify a program ensures that that program can’t be hijacked or abandoned.

One of the major complaints against free software is that it lacks quality documentation. In many cases this is true. It seems that some of the people writing the software either don’t bother writing the accompanying documentation, or they assume that the people using the software will be as skilled or savvy as them. This trend is slowly starting to change, though, as developers recognize the importance of quality documentation. The Internet, too, provides access to support forums, mailing lists and in-depth walk-throughs (called HOWTOs).