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Originally Posted by InactionMan
One coworker actually voiced their concern about Microsoft's reaction if they knew people weren't paying for software.
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That's pretty far out there.
Here at a univ library we have some interesting interactions over it, but really the situation depends on the software. I understand reservations about GIMP as opposed to photoshop. However, sometimes there are two options where the differences are not so pronounced or where the open source option is better. One of the big considerations at that point is whether we can get adequate support and how long development will continue.
Another major issue is the push by university IT and other it management to streamline support issues by limiting the diversity of platforms and software. This has lead to almost exclusive promotion of microsoft and apple products. For example, a couple years ago the univ switched the primary supported browser from netscape to IE. Personally, I think it is extremely unfortunate that there is not more support for Mozilla, especially when we are at the point where using IE is just plain stupid.
Then there is the MAJOR problem facing libraries and universities overall with pushlishers wanting to lock down information and finding software companies willing to help by creating closed standards. We recently had a situation where the most widely used document delivery software was purchased by an online publishing company that immediately clamped down on the use of its 'protocol' (basically a fucked-up twisting of standard FTP) by an open source competitor. Now, because of the release of an open protocol by another company, there are two competing protocols. All of the commercial products use both, but the open source ones can only use the open one.
On top of this, all of the above mentioned options are BUGGY AS HELL. One of our developers actually modified and cleaned up the open source program last year before the crackdown.
So, as you can see, open source options can sometimes suffer when commercial competitors use underhanded tactics without repercussions because of the ignorance of its customer base. As such, we probably will eventually have to migrate fully to the shitty commerical option, and that is what management is pushing for. Bascially it all got too complicated for them.