map butcher

Paul is back on the attack – this time he’s likening proprietary software to crack. Brilliant

It’s worth taking Paul’s analogy a bit further. Being an open source ‘evangelist’ he believes that proprietary software is bad for you. The two main points he makes are:

1. Proprietary software is pushed onto unsuspecting audiences by software vendors

2. Proprietary software is addictive

Lets take the second point first. People generally get addicted to a drug for a number of reasons such as;

a) their conditions

b) something in the drug is physically addictive (e.g. nicotine in cigarettes)

c) they enjoy it

Software is not dissimilar. People go with proprietary products because of their environment – they may work for an organisation which has made an investment in a particular product, or they may select a proprietary product because they feel comfortable with it – not necessarily because of actual familiarity with the product, but often because it seems more familiar or it seems less risky than other options. Sometimes proprietary products include something addictive – data lock in is a good example, once you’re using format X is very difficult to move away from it. Finally people often use proprietary products because it is good at what it does. It’s a tool which helps them get their job done – I’m not saying that there are not issues with proprietary products but to not accept that they are competitive is naive.

The first issue, that proprietary software is pushed onto unsuspecting audiences by software vendors is not new. This happens everywhere – just this morning I walked out of the train station and a new brand of yoghurt was pushed into my hand. Free samples of this and that are given away by companies intentionally to get you interested, to get you hooked – this is marketing! What’s wrong with this? I think Paul makes this point because he’s an open source geek and open source geek’s generally don’t get marketing – they see straight through it. They view their non-geek ‘express’ users colleagues as helpless against the evil ‘pusherman’ whose marketing mechanisms lure them in and gets them hooked.  But is this an accurate picture – I didn’t particularly like my free sample yoghurt. I certainly won’t be buying any. People do have the ability to make informed choices – some more than others, and they make these choices based upon many factors.

People are interested in the ‘express’ editions because on the surface of it the marketing works on them, they’re familiar with the brand and are attracted by the ‘free’ carrot dangling from the end of the stick. Open Source software starts from that position – it’s already free so open source projects need another carrot to get us hooked.  I think Paul needs to get Marlo Stansfield on our asses  - you gotta get in the game bro – you’ve got to convince us your crack is better, gets you higher quicker and lasts longer……and like any great drug it doesn’t have any nasty side effects. Alternatively you could develop a 12 step program to help those of us who are addicted to sucking on that pipe.