[Pharmacy Software]

One of my clients has suggested I write pharmacy software. He has a home-grown Clipper app that does everything from Dispensing to Cash Register. I give him a hand with it from time to time. He reckons there's a market for a low-cost package which would fit the Western Australian situation better than the off-the-shelf ones now available.

So comes then the ever-present question: Closed Source, or Open Source.

No knowing a lot about how Open Source works as an income generator, I fear that there is the risk that my non-Open Source competitors may steal my ideas and woo my customers away because they have the resources to bring them (the ideas, not the customers) to the market faster than I can. Is that a valid concern?

Closed Source isn't without its problems either.

And then comes the other questions: programming language / IDE / RAD. I wonder if anyone's come up with a template for software projects in the style of Word / Excel / PowerPoint templates.

[Visual Studio 2005 Team System Beta 2]

I went to a Microsoft do yesterday and that's what they gave me (amongst other things.) Now to find a machine to install it on (only Linux, MacOSX and Win98 at home).

Eventually I want to start bidding on jobs at Get A Coder and Get a Freelancer.

Until then ... Khuda janta he.