Nobody asked me, but... As someone who has been responsible for some of those free and low cost options, ebase v2 and now NorthStarDb, I want to put in my 2cents.
From one point of view $6000 up front and a $1500 "required" yearly service contract may seem out of line when FREE or very low cost options may be available. But perhaps that is not always the case.
In the "real" world database software products for a specific process or type of business are generally hugely expensive because the expectations are high and the number of units sold are small.
Fund raising / Contact management software for non-profits has traditionally be in that mold. These products and services have been sold to large non-profits, colleges etc and provided a high level of perceived quality, stability and support in return for a high initial and ongoing cost.
ebase version 1 broke that mold. Back in the 90s they worked hard to provide some of those same features but fund the development by grant funding vs high purchase cost. Funding for a large enough staff to provide ongoing development and any level of support has been an ongoing issue for the ebase project ever since. The limited willingness / ability of small non-profits to pay for support and services, even when they get software for free, is a related issue.
Indeed money is an ongoing problem for any very low cost or free software project. Can it really all be done by volunteers? When the initial funding or funder stops, the principal coder or visionary leaves, where is the project then? How do you fund the next version? How long will it take with volunteers only?
I do think there is a place for low cost software for small non-profits. I think that if enough non-profits buy a program such as NorthStarDb at $75 per license, it can be self supporting and provide a high level of support and quality ongoing development. But that "enough" is a huge number of paying users for low cost software vs the more expensive approach where a relative few customers allow for sustainability and ongoing development.
When a commercial vendor gives away services or software "for free" to the nonprofit sector or part of it, you have to ask "what is in it for them?"; In the back of your mind, you have to ask, "when will they start charging?"
So is it right for a non-profit to consider free, open source, and low cost options? Yes indeed! But keep your eyes open and ask hard questions like "Will you be here next year?"; and "How do I know I will be able to get support?" And if free software, ask "how are you funded?"
Clif
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Clif Graves Consulting
cgraves%40clifgraves.com">cgraves
clifgraves.com -http://www.clifgraves.com
Phone: 207-512-2522
Serving clients throughout the United States and Canada with:
* NorthStarDb http://www.northstardb.com/
* ebase consulting
* Training, Data conversion
* Management / Work flow consulting
* Custom FileMaker software development
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-----original message-----
>>;Nobody asked me, but...There are a number of database templates like this around - from the Organizers Collaborative, NCNC, Salesforce, and from Tim Mills-Groninger, to name a few. These are all free or fairly economically priced. 6,000 seems a high price for a product whose competitors are fairly well-established and much cheaper. What am I missing?>>
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