Nicu Buculei

Authored Comments

To your first point, I can reply with a totally different experience, when people ask me what I use for digital photography and I answer: "darktable, is awesome but you can't use it because isn't available for Windows". See, it cuts both ways :)

The fear (justified or not) of interoperability issues is a huge drive for people to stay with "what everybody else is using". Here's an anecdote from a slightly different field: some years ago I suggested a move to LibreOffice/OpenOffice in the company I worked for, the boss asked "will it open Microsoft Office files?" to what I was honest: in most cases well, in a few with slight differences. His decision was he can't afford the risk of losing any business because a potential imperfect file import, and bought MSO licenses for all computers which had any need for any office work. And compared with office files, graphic design files are way more incompatible.
Another anecdote from my current life as a photographer: I see some photographers shaming other professional photographers, as they supposedly do a disservice to their clients by not using the best tools available, which supposedly are Adobe products. And for being cheap bastards and not affording the low monthly fees for Adobe subscription.