Is Linux coming under fire again from Microsoft? Or perhaps instead, it’s the other way around? When I came up with the title for this post, I had to weigh out all of my options, finally came up with the above title as the final version. What’s the deal? Basically, this…something has to be given away for free to compete with open source software.
The biggest difference is of course, that Microsoft is giving users the free limited option whereas open source software is “usually” the full version of the software, supported commercially by services placed around the freely available software. Is this splitting hairs? Don’t think so.
Here’s the skinny. Using the Microsoft option gives you a vendor lock-in problem. Think I am wrong, try opening up an old Publisher 2002 file with a copy from 2000 – it’s not happening. Worse, you will never import that same document into non-Microsoft software. This is not the case with open source software. Am I saying one is evil? not at all, just be aware of all of the things surrounding your software choices before trusting them with critical docs.