But it's not worth too much to deal with crappy proprietary software?

I know a lot of open source software is a pain in the ass, but so is a lot of proprietary software. You use what you know, understand, and can support.

> "I'm a mechanic and I hand forge new spanners every time I work on a car."

This is a bad analogy. It's not like he's writing new software every time he has to do something. It's more like using tools that your machinist friends built.

"My mate created me some non-standard nuts and spanners so when you bring your car in I need to spend a few hours adjusting sizes etc before I can get to work."