proprietary
proprietary: adj. 1. In marketroid-speak, superior; implies a
product imbued with exclusive magic by the unmatched brilliance of
the company's own hardware or software designers. 2. In the
language of hackers and users, inferior; implies a product not
conforming to open-systems standards, and thus one that puts the
customer at the mercy of a vendor able to gouge freely on service
and upgrade charges after the initial sale has locked the customer
in. Often in the phrase "proprietary crap". 3. Synonym for
closed-source, e.g. software issued in binary without source and
under a restructive license.
Since the coining of the term open source, many hackers have
made a conscious effort to distinguish between `proprietary' and
`commercial' software. It is possible for software to be commercial
(that is, intended to make a profit for the producers) without being
proprietary. The reverse is also possible, for example in
binary-only freeware.
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