Off Comparison
How did an Open-source vs. proprietary software post turn into a Microsoft bashing article?! I'm not going to bother justifying or argueing the points that have been made against the evil Microsoft Corporation....
That being said, I don't necessarily agree with the idea that the end user is being ripped off by a company who does not open their source code to the world. Part of that problem itself is because so many folks pirate the software, the vendor has to increase prices to cover the shrinkage in profits. That's business 101. Now, do certain companies take it too far and over charge, absolutely. The user is still free to chose something else...
So now, to the point of open-sourced users who pay more, isn't it defeating the entire point of this article. If folks are willing to pay more to use something non-Microsoft, why is Microsoft still selling like hotcakes? Sure, their numbers, and PC's in general, may have dipped, but I would attribute that more to the rise of tablets and mobile devices over open-source, which may hand out an SDK, but still close off what content is truly available to the masses. That of course coming from me, is simply a guess, basedbsed in fact at all.
So your point is well made that many users are switching from software that they cannot develop on their own or change to open-source, but based on percentages, how many typical end users want anything different? Most end users I know of want something that is off the shelf ready and can run, not having to have every possible plug in installed or enabled.
Lastly, I can align myself with many open-source proponents in that the software market is shifting, violently at times. More and more are popular pieces built by smaller houses than before, and the big guys are trying to both compete, as well as make their quarterly earnings for as long as they can. But remember, even Microsoft, Symantec, and the other big, closed-source companies were small at one time, and basically would've given their stuff away to get it out there. How many Open-source publishers out there do you know of that can resist the greed of forcing users to come to them in order to continue using their product? I'm sure there is a laundry list of great, truly open-sourced developers out there who have fought the good fight, but how many have gone to restrictive licenses, or have the gotcha for support, upgrades, etc.?
