I came across the following quote about a couple of weeks ago and I think it summarises the frustration for proprietary s/w users, and explains in part why more organisations are turning to open source s/w.

“Traditional proprietary software, with its long release cycles and closely guarded development roadmaps, will never be nimble enough to address needs that are constantly changing. Waiting 12-18 months for new features will leave an enterprise irrelevant and its user base powerless, or worse, moving on to other companies.

Open source software gives enterprises a jump start to developing their online community framework, both in terms of time and cost. It also allows enterprises to open up development to internal staff and external users. The next generation of online communities demands participation, and open source software welcomes and embraces it.”

Source: Open Source Software: The Power of Communityl