Programmers Prefer Open-Source Portability

In this case I'm not referring to binary portability, I'm referring to job portability. While a skill learned on a complicated and large proprietary tool is only as valuable as the number of companies that are using said tool, a skill in an open-source tool is portable. If a programmer changes jobs, the same tool is guaranteed to be freely available at the next job.

This presents another problem for proprietary tool vendors. Why would a developer spend lots of time and effort becoming proficient in a tool that may not even be available at the next job? Sure, developers can restrict themselves to looking for jobs where their proprietary skill set is useful, but in a tight job market, who wants to do that?

It is a much easier sell to get buy-in for a free tool than one that costs thousands of dollars per developer or per shipment. Open Source has one more edge over proprietary software than previously thought.