I think most of us value our freedom more.
Most people don't think of it in terms of freedom, but freedom it is. With proprietary software:
- You don't know when it will disappear or be discontinued. Even your paid-for existing version stops working when the activation servers go down.
- You might be forced into an "upgrade" which breaks something you rely on
- That's not to mention issues like being able to fix bugs yourself, extend it, or understand it. I don't do this often directly, but something like being able to understand a file format my data is in or similar is common
I don't mind paying for things, but things need to be a lot better on other axes before this one becomes the most important.
My experience is that:
- Things I did decades ago are sometimes useful. Nearly 100% of the time, if this was in a proprietary system, it's gone or unusable. My LaTeX files still work.
- Companies switch between growth mode and cash cow mode. When this happens, the cost to me is almost always higher than the initial benefit over free.
- Which is better on other axes goes back-and-forth. An investment I make into a tool now doesn't mean it will be the leading tool in five years.
- Those sorts of long-term considerations are almost always more important than short-term technical stuff.
Most people don't think of it in terms of freedom, but freedom it is. With proprietary software:
- You don't know when it will disappear or be discontinued. Even your paid-for existing version stops working when the activation servers go down.
- You might be forced into an "upgrade" which breaks something you rely on
- That's not to mention issues like being able to fix bugs yourself, extend it, or understand it. I don't do this often directly, but something like being able to understand a file format my data is in or similar is common
I don't mind paying for things, but things need to be a lot better on other axes before this one becomes the most important.
My experience is that:
- Things I did decades ago are sometimes useful. Nearly 100% of the time, if this was in a proprietary system, it's gone or unusable. My LaTeX files still work.
- Companies switch between growth mode and cash cow mode. When this happens, the cost to me is almost always higher than the initial benefit over free.
- Which is better on other axes goes back-and-forth. An investment I make into a tool now doesn't mean it will be the leading tool in five years.
- Those sorts of long-term considerations are almost always more important than short-term technical stuff.