David Louis Edelman posted about the pains of OpenOffice and was chastised by a user in one of the comments. Today he responds in defense of Microsoft. Actually, this whole argument is pretty dated - it would be more relevant 10-15 yrs ago, but the Information Age has made it much more of a competitive playground.

In the earlier post about OpenOffice, I commented about using the best available software. Especially if my livelihood depended on it, my goal is to get the job done and I won’t cut corners unless necessary.

However, Micro$oft has historically proven that it will behave as a monopoly whenever they get a chance, and monopolies by nature hampers innovation and they will overcharge the consumers because they can and no one could stop them - until now. Their tactics worked in the 20th Centruy Industrial Age, but in the 21st century Information Age, they do not have the same leverage. 10-15 yrs ago, I would do everything in my power to avoid giving them a nickel, but they aren’t as much a threat as they once were.

For the starving artist, sometimes it is necessary to use a tool like OpenOffice or Google Docs, or even GIMP vs Photoshop. Because there will always be the starving artists, there will always be OpenOffice and GIMP. Sometimes, there may never even be a reason to go beyond the FOSS tool, such as using Linux and Apache as a web server over Windows Server and IIS. But if my livelihood depends on the written word or the publishable image, I will not be as good as I can be if I don’t invest in MS Office or Photoshop. If MS was the monopoly like they once were, I’d reconsider, but since they’re not, we all are free to make the choice that makes the most sense for us as individuals.

[ Note: recategorized from “Use What Works” to News & Noteworthy.]