Ow Mun Heng <Ow.Mun.Heng@wdc.com> writes:
> Being Corporate owned is not a bad thing(tm) for they present themselves
> with these differences.
> ...
> --> It provides a feel-good feeling knowing that a big company, after
> having paid XXX amount on it, the solution will not die in X number of
> years leaving the customer stranded.
Anyone who thinks that's a reason to feel good is living on some other
planet than I do. Consider that if the company *does* decide to abandon
the product ... which happens all the time, particularly for products
that aren't market leaders ... you are up the proverbial creek with no
paddle. You've never seen the code and never will. With an open-source
product, you at least have the option to hire a couple of programmers
and maintain it yourself, for as long as *you* need it. (Moreover,
there are probably a few other people in the same position as you, whom
you can cooperate with. Need I point out that this is exactly how the
current Postgres project came to be, ten-plus years ago?)
regards, tom lane