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Benson's Avatar
Posts: 4,930 | Thanked: 2,272 times | Joined on Oct 2007
#21
Originally Posted by tabletrat View Post
Well, I doubt anyone outside of an environment where software is mandated would buy software where there is a free alternative, assuming that alternative does what the commercial software is required to do (which I guess is a given, as otherwise it wouldn't be an alternative).
Really when I am looking for software to do something I want, the cost or openness of a piece of software isn't the highest priority.
Well, it can be an alternative, and still inferior; harder to use, slower, or just a different philosophy of working. (Compare Mathcad and MATLAB/Octave for an example of the latter, if you're familiar with them.) I don't think it's reasonable to assume that any alternative that meets the requirements is good enough that you would not pay for commercial software. (Though it often is, of course.)