Article about the Open Source Movement (LinuxMedNews)

[Posted April 10, 2003 by ris]

Here's an article written by a practicing ophthalmologist and medical informatics student, wondering about the uses of open source software in medical applications. "My next question, what is it good for, finds lots of answers in internet sources and e-mail conversations at AMIA, but very little in peer-reviewed medical journals. One of the most frequently mentioned advantages in AMIA e-mails is the avoidance of dependence on unstable vendors of proprietary software (The Open Source Case for Customers, 2003). Health care institutions invest enormous sums in information systems, only to find that the vendor goes out of business. This leaves the institution with a system that they cannot upgrade or maintain because there is no access to the source code. Even if the vendor stays in business the software owner is dependent upon the vendor for needed upgrades and maintenance." (Found in LinuxMedNews)