It is a distant cousin of the "if you don't like software X, write your own", which is often impossible because we don't have ninety-hour days and the technical wherewithal to accomplish such a task.
Which is itself related to "if you don't like open-source software X, you can just fork it", which has the same problems.
I find it interesting in that it's a useful argument, but only at a communal level - if the entire community hates the direction of a project (e.g. OpenOffice), they can fork it and take it in a different direction.
You're still boned as a discerning individual if you dislike the program, though.
> I find it interesting in that it's a useful argument, but only at a communal level - if the entire community hates the direction of a project (e.g. OpenOffice), they can fork it and take it in a different direction.
You can take leadership of the community and lead by example: fork it yourself and start hacking, then try to get more people to join.
