Programmers Prefer Open-Source Portability
Programmers prefer the portability of open-source tools and libraries.
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.
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