If easier life is your only goal, then yes, perhaps going with the flow would be the wise thing to do. It will come at a cost, however, which I find too expensive.

You assume that "we" would only accept open source. Well, as for me, that's not true. I do prefer open source, but if that doesn't provide what I need, I will pay for closed source. In fact, until recently I used (and payed for) Windows 7. The thing that made me switch was the ever increasing height of the walls around the windows garden and Windows 8, which showed me Microsoft is going in the same ultra-closed direction as Apple, for financial gains. And the Metro GUI is just stupid.

But while I find open source "preferred, but optional", I find open protocols and formats a much higher requirement where interoperability is a concern.

You're not much older than I, so apparently I "grew up" in a different direction.