Open Source vs. Closed Source

Open sourced software should be adopted by business and software community because of the advantages it provides over closed source. While each model has its own benefits, for current businesses a mixed model is the best choice.
The cost of each model is very different; open source is free but usually has to be customized for each company thus adding to the TCO, while closed source has very concrete uses, and almost zero customizability. The best analogy of this is the gum analogy: 'Open-source is like a piece of gum after it's been chewed. It's soft, flexible and has many uses, whereas vendor solutions are that same piece of gum, but pre-chewed (hard and inflexible)'. …