So far I’ve had good experiences with open source support. The ones I deal with most have extremely helpful developers and they also have a forum/message board with other developers that often help answer any questions or address problems. This is something I always look for before I use any apps (open source or paid).

I also feel its important to donate to open source app providers. Not to bribe them into helping you when you need them, mind you, but to help them be able to afford to invest time in future updates and support. Plus it’s good karma =]

There are some apps where you do want to invest a little extra money, but I think it’s all a case by case basis.

I believe that in the mind of each user should come first what he is needed or expected from the app and, only after the price.

I would not go into the justification that paid apps are more reliable, that’s not true, most probably they are less probe to bugs, due to dedicated teams working on them, although that doesn’t mean reliability.

I believe that one of the biggest barriers that paid apps find is simply the price, if the software is good and has a good quality/price relation, i believe that the user will buy it.

Personally, i have been a vim addict since ever, although i discovered that textmate, in some projects, boosts my productivity, so i bought the editor. That doesn’t mean that i like paid apps more than free apps, that just means that, i saw a payoff in productivity and the price was affordable.

That were my 5 cents.

Jose

http://www.amberweinberg.com/8-great-apps-that-every-freelance-developer-needs/