'Open source doesn't turn a frog into a prince,' says analyst

There is no such thing as a free lunch, so companies should not throw caution to the wind when software vendors pitch free open source software, says J. Paul Kirby, an analyst with AMR Research. Kirby warns, "Although ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) are offering once costly portions of their software portfolio for free, most of these products are either lightweight versions of successful offerings or were unsuccessful as commercial products.