[cjensen]

You've already sunk money into a Computer. If you pay a little more per year on software, how much better is your computer? It's a tradeoff which depends upon how much money you have, and how much utility you will derive.

For example, unlike Windows, there is no free and convenient svn utility on the Mac. If I were using svn on the Mac frequently, Cornerstone (which is quite expensive by my standards) would be a necessity.

Twenty years ago, computers cost $5000 and $500 worth of software was no big deal. Well today, that $500 dollars will buy you just a much a productivity boost, so why is it no longer worth it? Don't compare the $500 to the price of your computer; compare it to your already-spent salary plus overhead.

In my view, most of us who love free software have a knee-jerk reaction to paying money for software. Try spending a little more per year on software and observe whether or not it improves you life. It did for me.

[r00fus]

> For example, unlike Windows, there is no free and convenient svn utility on the Mac.

If you aren't command-line-phobic, svn has been included by default on OSX for a while.

However, I do agree about paying for software that improves your productivity... if you amortize it over even a year (think monthly cost vs. productivity/entertainment value), it's likely cheaper than a caffeine habit... and I usually use software for years.

[tincholio]

>For example, unlike Windows, there is no free and convenient svn utility on the Mac.

What's wrong with doing "brew install svn" ?

[CJefferson]

What's wrong with the copy of svn already distributed with Mac OS X? :)

[cjensen]

Productivity is much better with a decent GUI like TortoiseSVN. Want to see the diffs for multiple files you have changed? Just double click each. No mucking about with command line windows and cutting and pasting filenames or what have you.

On Windows there is TortoiseSVN which makes svn more efficient. On *nix, I used the XEmacs module. Of course I know how to use the command line also and do use it for one-file commits on occasion.

If you are using SVN routinely and do not use a GUI, you are wasting your time.

[techosaurus]

> mucking about with command line

I have never understood this phrase, and I see it a lot from Windows users. When I use the command line (and I spend ~12 hrs/day on it), there is no mucking. There's no frustration with it.

I'm honestly asking: what do you mean by mucking about?

[rimantas]

  > For example, unlike Windows, there is no free and
  > convenient svn utility on the Mac.

Back in SVN days I used SmartSVN (http://syntevo.com/smartsvn/index.html ) on Windows, Linux and Mac. Free version was enough for my needs.

[notJim]

This list is really GUI-centric. If you spend most of your time on the commandline, you don't need several of these.

[Derbasti]

Also, in many cases an employer might pay for some of the software.