6. 2  The customer perspective

For customers of products and services based on free software, it is very important to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the free software model in comparison to proprietary formats, especially if the latter takes place in the context of a consolidated traditional market.

From the point of view of software product customers, economic issues may be more relevant to the final implementation of the technology than a technological differentiation in product architecture. These features need to be taken into account in company strategies if we intend to exploit the market successfully.

In the following sections, we will describe in detail the advantages and disadvantages of businesses based on free software from a customer point of view.