A lot of its cost lies in planning, implementing, and monitoring and enforcing exchanges between the parties involved, who might be, for example, a hospital wanting to buy an information system and a system supplier. Such exchanges have high transaction costs. Even when a system is successfully commissioned, the costs can remain high. Free software differs from proprietary software in several important respects. This virtuous cycle of development has, over the past decade, created a common.
Free software facilitates the provision of common software components.
There are other advantages. It can be maintained even if the developers who originally produced the software are no longer available. Much better instead to invest time on a system licensed under the General Public License that will always be free. Next week the NHS Information Authority hosts a seminar to consider the implications of the free software movement for its future strategy. 9 Leveraging this effort should reap rewards for managers, professionals, and patients alike.