Cults appear everywhere today; in religion, politics, business and media. Technology is not an exception. What defines a cult is the insistence that a certain way, right or wrong, can be the only way for characteristics independent of its effect. What matters in the real world is how well something works, but cults replace this with a symbol or doctrine.

Open source was originally the idea that knowledge about software programming should be shared within a community, independent of financial reward, to compete with the costly corporate software out on the market. So far, really smart. What's happened over these last years is that the open source community has slowly transformed into a cult phenomenon that dogmatically divides software up into two binary categories: open source (good) and closed source (evil).

This a thoroughly stupid debate because what's being discussed is method and not product. Method in itself does not dictate whether the product is good or bad. An example of this open source software: while programs such as the FLAC encoder and the GIMP photoshop are brilliant, OpenOffice work system and Firefox browser are not. Same goes for corporate software: RealPlayer is a bloody joke and don't get me started with troubleshooting the ever-helpful "Blue Screen Of Death" (BSOD) on Windows XP!

The truth is that there are both white and black sheep in the corporate and open source heaven. Most people who blindly trust corporate software are the same nitwits who believe that money is the only motivating factor that's needed to create functional products. Similarly it's hilarious to hear the open source fanatics religiously exclaim how fantastic their home made pile of junk is - "hey, it's free!"

While I find that most corporate software today is pretty neat, I also realize that much of it is overpriced and seem to spy on every move you do on the Internet. Open source software isn't much better; you run into a system error and you're forced to spend the whole day googling forums after keywords related to your mysterious problem: "crash," "horse porn," "memory leak," "code line #45."

A similar discussion is always going hot among liberals and socialists; should we socialize or privatize all of our companies and services? My answer is always in the middle: some services that most or all people need access to on a regular basis, ought to be socialized. Craftwork and private businesses, such as the local grocery store and computer shop, should remain private and inspire others to compete and create something better.

When choosing between corporate and open source software; between something that costs and something that's free of charge, don't fool yourself by the crowds who want you to be a part of their technological cult. Pick the software of good quality; something that's stable, upgradeable, performs its tasks like it should and can be troubleshooted if needed. Quality is the only thing you ought to worry about and smart people are willing to pay up a minor fee to be able to use something effective for years. Think long-term and be selective; that's ultimately what's going to save you in the jungle of modern technology.