Sunday, July 16th, 2006, 12:33 am
Open Source Software Performs Better than Proprietary
Managing SPAM with the Horde
Web-based E-mail client (click image to view in full size)
N many contexts, no proprietary application can beat Open Source software where development is cumulative — that which stands on the shoulders of giants. I quite like using SpamAssassin as an example.
Spamassassin has captured and isolated tens of thousands of messages for me and never once flagged any genuine message as SPAM. On the contrary, off-the-ground commercial software performs far more poorly, despite its price and its shrink-wrapped package. Many times in the past, messages from myself actually reached the recipients’ SPAM boxes. They actually expected and welcomed that mail, which at time was important. This led to serious inconveniences and communication gaps.
So ask yourself today: in this industry of software, where production costs are inexistent or negligible, should price be indicative of quality? Co-founder of Apple seems to concur with the opinion that some of the worst software comes from large commercial companies.