[tptacek]

The reality is:

* The UI for most software is often terrible. There are dynamics that can even push OSS towards better UI's than commercial; for instance, OSS code often uses more modern UI toolkits, and commercial code often gets away shipping on stuff that looks like Foxpro.

* You're no more likely to get your feature wishlist with commercial software than with OSS. Commercial vendors pay product managers to pick the features that will expand their market and close deals with their top N customers; if you don't fit the bill, or (worse) if they farm the product for revenue, you're S.O.L.

* The cost of marketing software has changed drastically; nobody buys their software from the WSJ anymore. Read Eric Sink on advertising, and go back to the BoS board and read other people's stories on advertising. A well-trafficked blog can generate more leads than a $20k/mo marketing budget.

* The constant cycle of pointless updates is an irritant, not a win. Look at graphic design, where professionals often stick with archaic versions of Adobe tools and bitch about CS2/CS3/CS4/CSx.