'CFO's
Well, I was sysadmin/network administrator the Company required an IT help-desk system and a change request logging system which we really never had.
Among the plethora of 'solutions' out there, all costing 1000's of £ to buy, then the yearly maintenance licence, I found a FOSS system that combined both systems coded in PHP running on Apache. I installed it and messed around for a bit and as it was open source I easily fixed a few issues and adapted it to suit our exact requirements. All of which I submitted back as patches to the users/bug forums.
After a year or so of using this, in which all Dept.'s got on well with and as stated suited our exact requirements to a tee (for audits etc.) after my tweaks and fixes, I asked my boss, the CFO, if the Company would donate £200.00 or so to the developers, as they saved up 1000's of £ for us and also I could change/fix anything to suit what we required on the functionality.
He refused on the ground that as it was 'free' there was no Company value/assest or depreciate to record so therefore so there was naff all on the accounts sheet. No matter which way I approached it, he point blank refused.
Luckily the my Company shut down a few years after that.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
