Thanks for the straw man and entirely manufactured quote. We're talking about paying $50 for software that manages your passwords for everything, not paying hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.
> Free as in beer is a reason to be more distrustful of the software.
> this seems to be an area where it's really worth investing money in getting the more reliable solution.
You're stating that "Free as in Beer" == "Less Reliable" and the fact that something costs money implies with 100% accuracy that it is reliable. Neither of these are true. Arguing that I'm bringing up a strawman because I said "Free vs. Millions of Dollars" instead of "Free vs. $50" is beside the point.
I am not saying either. I'm saying "Free as in beer" is not a reason to trust software in this particular field, i.e. the field of security software where one error can undermine the whole point of the software and expose your secret data to the world.
And I never even came close to saying that "something costs money implies with 100% accuracy that it is reliable". You are once again making up words to put in my mouth.
The fact is, a lot of people still believe the "open source == more eyeballs" myth, even though that is a myth. Open source does not equate to reliability. And when it comes to software that requires this much trust, a company built around a product is more inherently trustworthy than open source, as the entire company is on the line with their product (and the livelihood of all their employees), whereas with the open source product only the reputation of the author(s) is at stake.
Please note that, once again, I am not saying this is a "100% accurate" indicator of reliability. There are many factors at play. One important factor would be whether the software in question has ever undergone a security audit. Another would be whether there's proper documentation on the encryption (i.e. 1Password's file format is completely documented, both so third party software can use it if need be, and so the security of the file format can be vetted). A third would be the involvement of anyone who is already previously known to be an expert in the field. Etc.
Edit: Come on guys, please stop drive-by downvoting. If you disagree, comment!
