The Invisible Closed Source Overhead - 3

[ Thanks to Brendan Scott for this link. ]

"Open source cannot assure you that you will always have a vendor to turn to when you need to solve a problem. That's because a vendor will only exist where there is a community which is sufficiently strong to support that vendor. What open source does assure you though is that, all else being equal, if there is enough interest then there will be a vendor. That is, a vendor does not have the option of shutting down a product because they want to focus on a new product. It can shut down its own support, but it can't stop others from supporting it - and others will support it if there is a market to do so."

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