Why Open Source Works

I'm studying Apache OFBiz for some time, because my company Vismaad is expecting a project in which we will be using it.
I ran into some problems and had to ask for help on ofbiz mailing list. It usually takes under 40 minutes to get an answer and if problem is not severe (means only you are doing something in wrong way) you can solve it in under 2 hours.
Great!!
Many commercial help desk services cannot give you this kind of support.
Now compare it to this:
I ran into a problem with ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX website when I was using CSS Adapters for controls. I posted my problem on official ASP forum. But even after many days I'm still to get any answer.
The myth that there is no money in open source is unfounded. You only need to look at the frantic activity in mailing lists and open source software forums. All those people are not doing the work only for hobby. Yes people are cooperative and guiding, but that does not means that they don't need money or make money. Many new features and changes get thoroughly discussed in these forums and lists. So it many users have problem configuring a feature or if something important is missing you can step in or request the follow users to have it fixed in next release or at least get a patch for it.
On the other hand if you look at closed source or propriety solutions you cannot force them to make any changes, and it they have some kind of monopoly or great market share (hey! don't make any guesses) it is impossible.
So moral of the story is that open up for opensource. See, Learn and if you like it use it and give back to community by promoting it, helping other in forums and mailing lists and contributing to source code.

Long Live Open Source