"Proprietary" versus "Open"

"Proprietary" versus "Open"

Posted Jul 17, 2005 11:48 UTC (Sun) by hackerb9 (guest, #21928)
In reply to: "Proprietary" versus "Open" by dvdeug
Parent article: Microsoft Surprises with Linux 'Hands-On Lab' (eWeek)

That's what the word proprietary generally means. If many vendors support something, then it's not proprietary.

When people say, "Don't use XYZ software, it's proprietary," they usually do not just mean that using it will lock you into a single vendor. Rather, they are saying that you do not have the freedom to use, modify, or redistribute the software. Vendor lock-in is just one of the natural consequences of those prohibitions.

--B

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