Re: [tlug] Vendor lock-in vs monopoly

["Keith Bawden" <keith@example.com>]

On 9/28/07, Nguyen Vu Hung <vu-hung@example.com> wrote:
> In a speech of RMS[1], he said that "proprietary program is a monopoly"
> but I think "monopoly" is not the perfect word here, and "vendor
> lock-in" fits better.
>
> For example, MS Word is a product of MS, it is not the only choice users
> can make, for example Start Office.

I cannot be bothered reading the supplied URL (sorry :). But, what I
see happening is once a company decides to use Word (for example) and
chooses to use it for intra company communication then their business
partners are pretty much _locked_ into the need to also have Word (of
the same/compatible version).

Once one of these companies decides to upgrade their version of word
they either train all of their staff how to save their documents in
older versions or they simply hit save and send those documents onto
their partners. These partners are of course _forced_ to either
upgrade their software to ensure they can read the new format or they
can "try" to encourage their partners to ensure they do the "file save
as old version" two step.

This cycle of events means that one or more key players in any given
business network will _decide_ what the other business need to use.

Of course if the document format in use was completely open and word
documents of any version could be faithfully opened in other software
packages then this situation would not exist.

If you re-read what I have said above and take note of the key words
that are underlined you will see that this strategy means your ability
to _choose_ what you use to open these documents with. You can be
pretty much _forced_ into "choosing" software that can open your
business partners documents...

Regards, Keith