Hello
I have been trying to push for FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) adoption in my workplace; but I keep running into significant resistance from management and IT teams. 
While many FOSS tools are objectively better & more cost-effective than proprietary alternatives, the biggest concerns I hear are security risks; lack of dedicated support, and compatibility issues with existing workflows. 
Even when I provide well-documented case studies & success stories, thereās a general reluctance to move away from licensed software.
One major challenge is vendor lock-in our organization relies heavily on proprietary tools with deep integrations; making migration difficult.
Another issue is user training and familiarity; employees are hesitant to switch because they feel FOSS alternatives will require more effort to learn. Even in cases where FOSS is already being used (like Linux-based servers), management still insists on paid enterprise solutions for desktop environments and productivity tools. Checked Discussion - FOSS United selenium guide for reference .
Iād love to hear from others who have faced similar hurdles. How did you successfully advocate for FOSS adoption in your company? What strategies worked in convincing decision-makers?
Thank you !! 
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Hey @Chlnldoe,
We could use LLMs to solve this problem. Try making a vector DB of all the issues that come up while using the software and the documentation (more the merrier). Demo the LLM to people in influence and emphasize how the organization benefits by using FOSS (for instance, reduced costs, ability to modify software as per convenience, etc). User training can be solved with a combination of the LLM we trained earlier along with a couple of videos.
Youāll have to work hard to promote this in your organization (speaking from personal experience). I think it should take between 3 and 6 months for you to see any results.
FOSS Adoption in a corporate place is hard. We tried at FOSS United (when I was an employee) and it seems like it (or I) failed.
You need to break the house and put new solid bricks. Now, here you refer your seniors/managers as the ābricksā or the software, both of them might be needed to create an impact. Whatever organization you work in there is going to be said or unsaid hierarchy which needs to break as well.
Zerodha and Frappe are good examples. Their initial bricks (Kailash, Rushabh or Closed Source Software) were solid. And there are many other exceptional companies who break the norm. You also need to agree that most of the times open source software sucks for beginner or non tech users.
And in general, not everyone can embrace Uncomfortability.
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@Chlnldoe Iāve never faced this, but have friends who have faced this and succeeded to various levels.
Hereās my take - start small. Get people to adopt simple (tiny) solutions that are open source. If there is enough value you are getting to the table, they will warm up to the idea. Once you are able to push the tiny open source stuff (e.g. simple tools where all the concerns donāt matter), move to the bigger ones!
Other thing is to bide your time. Donāt expect people to change quickly. Letās say you are pushing a solution that reduces cost to do something. That is likely to find more favour when your suggestions align with the needs of the org. Industry cycles mean that there will invariably be times when people are seeking to reduce costs or improve efficiency.
Do understand that many times what you suggest may be in conflict with importance/scale of their job function. Ordinarily people want to project larger budgets - in normal course of time the importance of somebody is proportional to the budget they manage !!! If you go and say āXYZ can be done in lower costā and they donāt agree, then just work to make a better case next time around. Your time will come!
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