Re: Open vs. Closed Software
Renamed the thread to what the varieties of software are properly called.
Each has their advantages and disadvantages. With the sheer variety of open source programs and operating systems (such as the Linux distributions) available, it means there's a distribution out there that can suit anyone and - if they have the experience or advice - can be further tailored to their needs. If such software is free, an obvious drawback is that it would need to be funded by donations or ads on their site, and there's not necessarily a guarantee of professional software support.
Additionally, exactly because of that very variability, big compatibility and integration issues can occur. My dad's got an Android-based smartphone, which is open source. Because there's no one type of Android mobile OS, its virtually impossible for him to use it for an hour without experience occasional crashes, random slow-downs, etc. This is because the various programs used on the device aren't all designed so that they can all work perfectly in sync.
Closed-source software pretty much has advantages where there are uncertainties or disadvantages for open-source. Professional software support is nearly always guaranteed, and with - say - operating systems being fairly uniform, it's easier to make sure that programs will work across the board, and that integration issues won't come up.
That's where iDevices can trump Androids or other open-source mobile OS's - because the operating system is uniform for everyone and across all devices, you can be certain every app will pretty much work aside from one-off glitches or whatever.
Similarly, because of the smaller number of operating system variants, the general development of such software has more resources to put towards making sure it comes out the gate with minimal issues. A smaller number of OS's across the board, however, of course means that there's less of a chance of an operating system variant being exceedingly close to what you need.
Both are good depending on your needs and what you can afford or deal with. Most open-source software does a sufficient job of what it's supposed to do, plus many open-source packages tend to be free. More and more these days even close-sourced software is being given more and more options and customisability.