Another, non-trivial, problem is that corporate managers only like using tools from well-defined, well-supported companies. Everyone wants Visual C++ for this reason. In one project, I was even forced to rewrite a lot of code because the management didn't trust gcc, and the library I was using wouldn't compile on VC++ because it needed partial template specialisation. In many cases, it is literally impossible to persuade management to use open source software, because it is perceived as lower quality and less well supported than commercial software, even though the reality is frequently the opposite of this.
Probably also got something to do with the attitude 'well if the tools suck then at least we can blame a company. we can't fix the tools because it's closed source, therefore we have a valid excuse if our dismal project fails.' Open source software licenses (GPL, Apache etc...) state that they don't take any responsibility for any damages etc. The funny thing is commercial licenses, although they don't explciitly state it as bluntly as OSS licenses, may as well be devoid of any warranty because of the convoluted loopholes they implement that absolves them of any responsibility. On the upside, as long as corporate managers like buying tools from companies, it means they have to spend , which means some programmer somewhere is making some money :) -- sashan http://sashan.netfirms.com