"Software is like sex. It's better when it's free."

I dont know - I like the ideal.

But imo price is not the most important aspect of quality software. The important thing is cost - and that doesnt just mean monetary.

(to take the sex analogy; a one night stand might be free and great fun, but it could come back and bite you 9 months later just because you forgot an important consideration in the first place)

Sex is not always free, and even when it is free, it carries hidden costs, same as software ;)

You, my friend, have obviously never paid for sex.

I read that quote as being attributed to Linus Torvalds a number of years ago.

I agree with him, too. Free software is way more fun than the paid sort, at least I find it much more pleasant to work with/on.

I find this quote confusing. I can accept that gratis sex is better than paid-for sex, but then it's a pretty banal analogy to make -- in simplistic terms, anything is 'better' if you can get it without paying for it, software or otherwise.

On the other hand, if it's trying to make a case for libre software, then it's must be talking about libre sex. And I'm really not clear on what that entails.

I think coding to to software, what sex is to a relationship... both are over rated.

"But if you have particular requirements you're probably going to have to pay for it"

Software is like sex. It's better when it's bug-free.

Gosh, if only there were a place where people could post snarky little one-liners they overheard somewhere...