> The reality for most people - even expert programmers - has been that the freedom is more about being able to lean on other people to do that. Most people can

> The reality for most people - even expert programmers - has been that the freedom is more about being able to lean on other people to do that. Most people can't justify the time commitment needed to read and then modify the code for tools they use very often. That's not quite right. It's always developers who make the changes, just those who care strongly enough to dedicate their time. Open source (or in a limited sense an extension framework), allows these developers to share their updates with a wider audience. If the tool evokes strong emotions, the pool can be quite large. While it may seem like I'm nitpicking, my point is this: There is no external benevolent entity as your statement implies. Rather it's just a fellow developer who cares enough to evolve the tool long beyond it's lifecycle.