How many directory owners out there using Open Source Free PHP Directory Script. Paid Script Open Source Free Script
i vote for paid.. have support.. the free version sometimes make you tired waiting for they support..
That was the main reason we started charging for our script in the first place. People needed support and we needed to pay people to help them.
I am using a piece of free, semi-open source software for one of my sites. The programming team decided, amongst themselves with no feedback from the user community, during the last upgrade to eliminate many of the software's native features using the excuse that they are volunteers with real jobs and that no one used those features anyway. Anyone who relied upon those features was basically told tough tiddly winks. We were told to pay someone to program a plugin (also part of the "new and improved" program) or wait until someone else makes one and donates it to the community. My entire site is built upon one of those "unused features". I'm left to keep my site permanently stuck on an old, perhaps insecure version, or upgrade and hope that the one available plugin works as I need it to. I chose the software that I'm using because it had that feature. I would hope that the excuse "we're just volunteers and want to have a life" wouldn't fly in a real software company. Most software companies don't make unilateral decisions about the removal of core features on such lame excuses. Most software companies would offer to help customers like me to come up with a solution - at least the ones that worry about staying in business. When volunteers are involved, they really don't have to answer to anyone. sigh.
I prefer to start with free one's. and then if the things turn out to work, I simply purchase a better, paid one.. Simple