Why can’t we just get along?

Quoting: Software giant Microsoft, which is firmly in the proprietary-software camp agreed. “We are committed to being open when it comes to interoperability,” said Dzahar Mansor, national technology officer at Microsoft Malaysia.

I love good comedy pieces!

Quoting:On the other end, proponents of proprietary software counter that while open-source software is mostly free, its users often have to pay high fees for technical support.

...which may, indeed, be true unless you compare the support costs of free software against what Microsoft charges for support. There are high fees (some companies that provide FOSS support) and higher fees (Microsoft). Of course the proprietary software companies completely dismiss the community support model despite the fact that community support, which is free as in no charge, is often excellent.

There is a lot to laugh at in the article and also a lot of misinformation to debunk.

The community support model also dominates proprietary software. It's not an either-or deal. It's often faster and better to hit the Web instead of futilely relying on your expensive support that you already paid too much for.

Quoting:It's often faster and better to hit the Web instead of futilely relying on your expensive support that you already paid too much for.

And which often either gives you the same information as the free support does, or has no solution at all.

Paid support often does give you long periods of time to relax while listening to canned music over the phone while you are on hold waiting for your turn in the support queue.

Why can’t we just get along?

maybe that's because of some big, greedy and fat companies tha can't stand competition?