[Infographic] Pros & Cons of Open Source School Management Software

Opensource projects and products are the results of the wonderful collaboration between great minds all across the globe. The majority of our internet and business runs on top of opensource software without our awareness. And there are opensource software available for any kind of organization to manage their day to day operations. The school management software industry is also not different. But is it a good idea to choose an open-source school management software for your school? Considering the unique nature of users in a school like teachers, admins, etc. and their technical expertise, we need to check in-depth the pros and cons of opensource school management software:

Pros- Why Is It So Good?

1. Free to download & setup which makes the initial cost almost zero. You don’t have to pay anything to get the software
2. Free to modify the software according to the unique requirement of your school. You are not limited to what the software has already.
3. Free to reuse in other branches of the same school or you can share the modified sofware to other schools. Also no limit on number of users.
4. Free to work with any development team. You can hire a developer from your locality.
5. Free to host the software anywhere. You can host it online or in computer within the school campus.
6. Opportunity to learn same coding and develop computer science skill for interested teachers.
7. IKEA effect. Your users will use the system more efficiently because they also participated in building it.
8. Very reliability as the software is developed by multiple independent developers and code reviewed by hundreds
9. High security factor. Since the source code is open, it will be audited by experts in the field.
10. It is fun ultimately using a self customised open source school management software improve collaboration between users.

Cons- Why It Is Not So Good?

1. Problem with support. You can’t expect developer community of the software to prioritize your needs.
2. Require technical knowledge in customising and debbuging the software for optimum use.
3. Need technical skill in hosting the software and optimizing for scale so that it can be used by hundreds of users at th same time.
4. Since most of the open source software are designed keeping the developer in mind, therefor the user experience is not friendly for non-developers.
5. Long term cost of open source software can go more than proprietory software if you don’t hire the right resources.
6. You won’t be able to use an off the shell open source software as it may not fit well for specific requirement of your school.
7. There is a higher probability of open source project to be orphaned by developers leading it.
8. Training video or documentation  for end users may not be user friendly for school teachers.

The following infographic presents clearly the advantages and disadvantages of choosing opensource software in your school:

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