It certainly is a shame in many regards, but it does exist, and must be taken into consideration in a business environment.
Yes, indeed. But it also needs to be changed, sooner than later. So it's not just enough to think "Well, it's just that way, so we have to consider it", but it has to be fought against, IMHO.
Just a rough example: Who owns your data? That is, the data in the databases, the documents you create, etc. Normally you would say "Well, it's my company, so i own them". But looking closer, that is not entirely true. There are lots of proprietary formats that are not really documented. So, to be able to use your own data, you are also forced to pay money for all the new versions of the software that produced them. Sure, you could say "What the heck, i'm happy with version X, and stay with that". But at some point you get stuff from your customers who did update, so you are again forced to update as well, otherwise you can't open it.
And now that is where that patent craziness comes into play. Someone may be able to reverse engineer the format, creating a converter for them. But would that be allowed to be distributed to you? It will very like turn out to be a dark-gray area at best. And even then, you may just get the gist of the data, but loose all formatting, database tables, etc.
That's the vendor lock-in at play, and that lock is secured more and more by silly patents that make it impossible for others to access/implement those formats legally.
I think regardless, quality products, whether FOSS or COTS or however licensed, quality products often distinguish themselves find a way to the top of the pile.
Absolutely true. Quality of software has nothing to do with the license or price. Something that many people tend to forget. Just because you paid a buckload of money does not guarantee a good software. Having it completely open as OSS doesn't guarantee that either.
Personally, however, i think that OSS has many advantages, simply because the source is accessible and enables you to get active yourself, if need be. All your data created by OSS is accessible to you at all times, because you have access to the very code that actually creates and reads those formats.
I'm not saying that OSS is the catch-all solution for all problems. It still has a long way to go, that's for sure. But it must be taken seriously, it is already causing big changes in the way big companies think and act. It _does_ give the John Doe user more freedom, whether he can use that freedom or not.
I guess many people will be surprised to learn where, for example, Linux is already in use. You have a router at home? Chances are it runs Linux. Lot's of appliances use it, and the numbers are growing. It has already come a long way from being a "just for fun" toy of a student, to a really reliable and usable tool for a lot of companies. And that growth (in "userbase" as well as functionality) is mainly due to the OSS aspect of it. Never underestimate a crowd of interested people working together because it brings them a lot of fun, compared to a crowd of people who work on something just to be able to pay their rent at the end of the month. There _is_ a difference in motivation here.
Greetings,
Chris
