Years ago, I had to figure out why no one was using a programming suite. It was open source, aka free, and useful. So why didn’t people use it?
“Free” is a tricky word. It sounds plain and simple, but it can mean at least three different things:
– “Free” as in “free beer” – means gift with supposedly no strings attached. Implies zero monetary cost. Also called “gratis”.
– “Free” as in “free speech” – means full liberty to use, study, modify, redistribute, or even make money off it, no restrictions. It’s also called “libre”.
– “Free,” as in “free puppy”, refers to the zero cost of acquiring the animal but not the total cost of ownership, such as maintenance, care, and support.
To get back to the initial question, why didn’t people use the free programming suite? Although it was both “gratis” (free to download) and “libre” (open source software licence with full freedom of use), it was also a commitment (just like a free puppy).
In order for it to become useful, it needed an upfront investment in time (convenience cost), without knowing for sure if the end result would be worth the effort (risk cost). It also wasn’t easy to use, unless you were already used to it, leading to frustration (ego cost of powering through).
Even 100% free can turn out to be not free enough. In other words, when you see a competitor offer what you do for free, it’s not a game over. It’s game on!