I have often wondered whether this feeling of software being insubstantial slows down the propagation of FOSS in general? People seem to feel they are getting less of a tool when they can download something for free and don't have to wait for it to perform tasks as they would with larger, more bloated works.
This may be a little off topic, but I wonder how much of this phenomenon is born out of consumerism? We are used to having to wait or forfeit other luxuries in order to gain access to high quality things, so when we are presented with an excellent, free solution our perception of it is automatically jaded by our beliefs? Is this international?
I don't think it has much to do with consumerism, but rather how your perceptions shape your expectations. If it is 'difficult', we expect it to require a relatively increased amount of effort (see: time) to complete. This is only heightened when the task is something we are unfamiliar with, and have no idea how it should work.
For example, encryption - I, and apparently the people in the above example, have little or no understanding about how it works at a fundamental level. So if I was having something encrypted I would expect, due to ignorance and having it's difficulty on a pedestal, that it would take a reasonable amount of time to complete - certainly not instantaneous.
I think this idea applies to everything, not just software. If you paid $10k for something you probably will consider it valuable and treasure it. Even if there are better alternatives out there you're likely to have some emotional attachment. You put in research before investing that much money and you're likely to rationalize and defend your decision to purchase it.
Whereas when you get something for free you obviously have no financial investment. You can just throw it away without any care or feeling of loss. You're likely to perceive it as having no tangible value at first. The more time and resources you invest into that the more you will start perceiving the value.
I have often wondered whether this feeling of software being insubstantial slows down the propagation of FOSS in general? People seem to feel they are getting less of a tool when they can download something for free and don't have to wait for it to perform tasks as they would with larger, more bloated works.
This may be a little off topic, but I wonder how much of this phenomenon is born out of consumerism? We are used to having to wait or forfeit other luxuries in order to gain access to high quality things, so when we are presented with an excellent, free solution our perception of it is automatically jaded by our beliefs? Is this international?