OSS in small business.

Quote from a very interesting comment on the topic "Why is OSS Commercial Software So Expensive?" on slashdot:

Re:Commercial versions vs. "based on" (Score:5, Interesting)
by skiflyer (716312) on Wednesday October 04, @09:23PM (#16315291)

Like what? I am not being a smartass, I am truly curious what you business folks need.

I run a small business... so let me answer your question, but I disagree with the grandparent, so I'll also include some answers, though he's right that there are big gaps.

• Accounting: GnuCash is good, I can't use it because my accountant doesn't support it.
• Some kind of basic organization ala MS Project... dunno personally, but MSProject sucks too.
• Visio equivalent... dunno
• Defect tracking: Bugzilla
• Source Control: SVN Obliterates some of the 6 figure competitors IMHO
• Email: Thunderbird
• Contact management: Yes, we have choices, but the propertiary ones are better IMHO
• Inventory: Dunno, can't say the commercial ones are any good either, guess that's why I'm writing one right now
• Scheduler... sorry Sunbird & the like aren't up to part yet... still gotta give Evolution an install, but I'm busy
• Backup solutions: OSS is way ahead of the commercial ones here IMHO
• Databases: PostgreSQL is a winner for me
• An OS that supports my eight monitor setup easily, stuck on windows
• Remoting software: Putty is the best CLI one I've ever seen, TightVNC is good for most of my stuff, but I prefer to use RemoteDesktop when appropriate (when I can lock the screen.. yes I know rdesktop is great, not a server tho)
• Internal chat network: OSS slaughters propertiary

List goes on and on I imagine, every small business needs something a little different, that's why the economy loves us so much, we put a huge percentage of our income back into operating costs. But, as you might have determined from my disjointed comments, my customers love me because I employ the best tool for the job philosophy... I ask two questions, and in this order: Can it do the job well? What's it cost? Often OSS is better, often it's not.