How Open-Source Saves Local Dollars and Builds Local Skill#

Why Pay Rent on Software You Already Own?#

Every month, businesses and people in Kirksville quietly pay rent on their computers.
A few bucks here for Microsoft 365, a little more for Adobe or some “cloud subscription.”
It does not sound bad – until you realize you have been paying for years… and the computer is still not yours.

That is not technology. That is tenancy.

Open-source software – things like Linux, LibreOffice, GIMP, Thunderbird – costs nothing, works for decades, and does not nag you for renewals. It is the difference between owning a hammer and renting the handle.

Kirksville does not need digital landlords. It needs ownership.

The Local Money Loop#

Every subscription dollar you send to Big Tech leaves town the same day.
It zips off to a corporate server somewhere in California or Ireland and never comes back.

But when you pay a local shop to set up open-source systems, that money stays here.
It bounces around the community – fueling coffee shops, schools, and repair benches instead of stock options.

Switchboard Tech Services does not just install Linux. We keep the tech economy local.
Every free install is an hour of learning gained, a dollar saved, and a skill that sticks around northeast Missouri.

Reuse Beats Replacement#

The best laptop deal in 2025 is not on Amazon – it is in your closet.

Windows 11 abandoned a ton of older PCs, but Linux still runs on nearly all of them.
What the industry calls “obsolete,” we call “ripe for revival.”

We have rebuilt decade-old laptops into fast student workstations for under fifty bucks in parts.
No licenses. No subscriptions. No activation voodoo. Just clean, functional machines that boot faster than new ones.

That is technology serving people – not people serving technology.

Learning by Doing – Not Clicking “Agree”#

Most software teaches dependence. You click “Agree,” and your machine becomes a rental. (For a deeper look at how modern tech companies turned ownership into a rental, see this How-To Geek article on why you never really own your devices. )

Open-source flips that around.
You can look under the hood, change what you want, and learn something in the process.
It encourages curiosity – the same hands-on attitude that built the early towns of this region.

When someone learns to install Linux, they do not just fix one machine – they unlock a new kind of literacy.
And just like any other trade, those skills spread from neighbor to neighbor, kitchen-table to kitchen-table.

The Right-to-Repair Ethos#

“Right-to-repair” is not a slogan; it is survival during tough times.

Open-source software was built on that idea from the start.
No locked firmware, no voided warranties for being curious, no $300 service calls to replace a $5 part.

At Switchboard, we stand for your right to open, fix, and understand your own gear.

That is the kind of ethic small towns were built on: independence backed by community know-how.

Ownership Is the New Innovation#

As prices rise across everything – groceries, gas, utilities – there is no reason software should keep us paying rent just to think, write, or create.

Open-source software is not a downgrade; it is a lifeboat in a stormy economy.
It lets people work, learn, and repair without permission or debt.

We might not be able to fix global inflation, but we can reclaim our own tools – and that is where stability starts.

So next time your computer says, “Upgrade for a fee,” consider a different kind of upgrade:
one that saves your wallet and strengthens your town.

Install freedom.
Keep your dollars here.
Build your own skill.

Written by Leo Blanchette, owner of Switchboard Tech Services – Kirksville’s local source for open, honest, fix-friendly technology.

How Open-Source Saves Local Dollars and Builds Local Skill

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