Somehow new generations of developers want all their tools for free, but expect to get money for their work.

Strange profession, when compared how much some of other professionals pay for their tools.

Exactly. I have a Bosch drill and I recently had a carpenter trying to convince me that I should have spent three times as much on a Makita. He was basically trying to show me that the cheaper drill was a false economy. Its hilarious in software how much time we waste dealing with poor tools. Some free tools are excellent but in many cases spending some money will save you so much time and effort, enabling you to make more money and giving some of that to the developers. Wins all round.

Why is it strange? Lots developers who write free software get paid for their work.

Only in areas where software is not the main product.

How did you come up with that?

Mozilla is a clear example of people paid to write FLOSS. I used to work at a foundation that did that too. There's plenty going around.

Mozilla is a clear example of a software that isn't the product being sold.

The product being sold is the service to access online web sites, sell search data to engines and online advertising.

The problem isn't the cost in money, it's the cost in time and inconvenience. It sort of manifests in two ways. First, I build my professional workflow around a tool that can simply cease to exist in a few days/weeks/months/years...it puts me at the mercy of the maker of the tool, often needlessly. Second, software that costs money tends to be closed source, which is at odds with community efforts that can improve and shape the software over time, as well as maintain it should the original developer move on. So those issues are the problem, not the $70.

I disagree as all of those problems exist with SourceTree as well, which is what the parent was comparing it to.

Agreed.

Is this an argument against my point? I'm not unwilling to pay for a tool -- I've even paid for Sublime which is free unless you choose to pay. Is there a reason I should feel compelled to pay for a tool, given a comparable free alternative?

> Am I the only one who remembers when $70 was cheap for anything development related?

That's more than what I've spend of software (excluding videogames) in the last decade, probably more. It's also more than a weekly rent for me too.

Yeah, if it saves me time/work I'll gladly pay $70.