I've had this conversation more than once.

Me: "We can download something like POI to read the Excel™ files. Or I can spend months writing something."

Them: "We have a policy against open source software."

Me: "Do you use Apache ?"

Them: "That's different."

Me: "How so? Be specific in enumerating …

My point -- always -- is that I'm not here to convert anyone. I'm just here to respond to the need for open source consulting skills.

As a parallel example, TH explained (at length) that there was NO earthly reason to retire a perfectly good IBM z-series mainframe. The z-series represents cheap …