Z:gnu-www-ja-free-world-notes--3cf7a5-Of course, Microsoft (and all/en

Of course, Microsoft (and all other commercial software companies so threatened) will do their best to compete with free software, and can be expected to do so as desperately as they compete with everything else. There will be many arguments floated as to why commercial software is better than free software. Many of these arguments are variations on the master salesman's boast that he can sell more $10 bills for $20 than a less convincing huckster can give away. Such arguments can be defeated by establishing that free software is quality software and makes sound economic sense. Some arguments are more substantial: commercial software companies have a huge head start; some such companies have convinced many users to trust their brands; the true costs of software include the time that it takes to learn and use, so no software is really cost-free; the investment that users and companies have in commercial software can make switching painful; many people still regard commercial software as something of a bargain.