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I've been working on an Internet Gateway/Proxy/Email filter box for work using Postfix, AmavisD-New, Spamassassin, ClamAV, Squid, Dansguardian, etc. I've put in many hours trying to get it to work the way I want, (granted I have spent a lot of those hours learning and documenting along the way) and I'm happy with the results, but I am beginning to wonder, am I really benefiting my company? Am I saving them money with a more superior product? Let's say that after benefits and everything, someone in IT is paid $25 an hour and spends 20 total hours getting a Linux server setup for the functionality above. That's $500 worth of work. Now compared to a commercial offering such as the SonicWall TZ 180 TotalSecure 10 priced at $480 that does all of the above, what is the benefit of running a free, open source solution? Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan and promoter of open source, but from a purely business perspective, am I doing the right thing? Your thoughts and opinions please...
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