bunty wrote:
A commercial paid software is always good as developer can make continuous development and give active support. Free softwares may have bugs and no technical support.
I can argue that for both sides.
Case 1: gnuddrescue
The author (Antonio Diaz Diaz) is active on the project. People send requests for features and report bugs, and those requests and issues are addressed in a fairly timely manner. Plus the software is open source, so others can actually make modifications of their own if necessary. I personally had a direct influence on improvements to the algorithm between versions 1.17 and 1.19. While Antonio and I don't always agree, he took my suggestions and made improvements beyond what I was suggesting, making ddrescue a very robust tool (as long as you know how to use the settings). If anything were to happen to Antonio, the software can still continue to live and be improved by others since it is open source.
Case 2: hddsuperclone (my software)
As you may guess, I am very much active on the project. I answer to both bug reports and feature requests in a timely manner, which helps keep the software up to date. While the current version is free, I intend there to be a paid version, so it is not open source. So this could be considered commercial software in that respect. But if something happens to me, the software developement would be dead, unless I somehow leave provisions for it to be sold or openly released.
Case 3: Commercial software (this is a generic example, no specific software, unless you want to include Microsoft in this group)
I have seen many occasions where commercial software from large companies has bugs that go unresolved for months if not years. Feature requests go unanswered unless a very large group of people request them. The level of technical support can vary. There may be phone support (which you will not get with the likes of ddrescue or hddsuperclone), but phone support often only helps for the simple common issues, and any true technical issues are hard to get answers for. You will almost never talk directly to a developer.
Case 4: Commercial software from a small company (again, no specific software)
This is a best case scenario. A small company is formed that produces a specialize software. It offers good support and responds promptly to bug reports and feature requests. When you have a technical issue that is beyond the initial tier 1 support, you may actually end up talking to a developer that can understand your issue. This is what you wish from any company that supplies software.
Case 5: Open source freeware that is buggy and poorly supported (again, no specific software)
Someone writes software, possibly for themselves, makes it public and open source, and then really doesn't care much about it, or doesn't have the time to continue work on it. Support is limited or does not exist.
Case 6: Paid software from an individual that is buggy and poorly supported (again, no specific software)
Someone writes software, thinks it is good enough to sell, and then really doesn't care much about it, or doesn't have the time to continue work on it. Support is limited or does not exist. The software will die with the author, if is isn't already dead from lack of support.
I am sure there are other levels of examples. But my point is that freeware (open source or not) is not always buggy, underdeveloped, and unsupported. And commercial software is not always well supported and without bugs.