It's a tough call to make, but I suspect one helpful hint is to ask: What does the vicious company want us, the 'competition', to do? Well, to be a half-butted fringe implementation endorsing and chasing their lock-in, which they can then shake up at any time if we ever matter (which has been one of their MOs for decades). Doing what they want is probably not in our interests.
The current strategy is probably aware of that, and maybe focusing on getting a foothold with "legacy" compatibility, while offering a replacement solution option at lower cost (probably not superior technology, nor superior reliability, though both are doable). Or maybe some strategy smarter than that. It will have to be very smart, because the awful company is very good and successful at competitive strategy, has much more funds, and is willing to invest heavily in the long-con.
Maybe they've been an open source project, built upon open standards, for an open Internet -- not doing enterprise sales to shops that are hopelessly bent over the barrel.