[zarkov99]

I don't think you have this right. The problem is not paying for developer tools, the problem is investing your time in proprietary solutions that might go away any time. For a long and resilient career developers have to stick to tools and technologies that are not dependent on ephemeral corporate support.

[zmmmmm]

this exactly.

I'm fine to pay for tools (and I do). But I hate the idea of becoming dependent on proprietary tools. Imagine leaving your job and going to the next and because they don't pay for a tool you've become critically dependent on half your skills are useless.

And its not just for myself but I think its harmful that it creates barriers within teams and organisations. All the investment in infrastructure and knowledge connected to the tooling can only be shared with the people licensed to use it. If your team processes depend on it then nobody outside the team can even properly work on the software.

So we end up in a catch 22 where I will say, we can pay for software as long it is still perfectly practical to develop our code without it. But if you extrapolate from that, it means nothing we ever pay for can have a very high value proposition, and ergo we can't justify paying for it.

[galaxyLogic]

That is my feeling as well I never wanted to become dependent on tools. Right now I use WebStorm and I'm happy paying for it. But I don't really have dependency on it, I could easily switch to VSCode but I think I am happier with WebStorm.

The issue is it took me long time to learn how to use WebStorm effectively. That is now a good reason for me to stay with it.

[katbyte]

I get the all tools pack from jetbrains and every time I’ve switched languages they have an ide that’s basically the same for it - it’s fantastic

[ta988]

Thats why I pay for my individual full jetbrains package. First year was $250, next year $199 and the next $149. Quite an investment the first year ok. But now I own my tools, and it turns out I also use them a lot for personal projects so I'm happy with that as well. I would not work for a place that doesnt let me bring it or offer it to me (because I can afford saying no).

[fendy3002]

AFAIK this is why Microsoft let windows and excel be pirated for personal use up to certain level.

Proprietary tools is worse for developers / companies that develop with many languages and / or other toolings (unless it doesn't interferes with the process itself).