I read both Jonathan's and Michael's thoughts on freelance vs permanent employment, and tend to side with Jonathan. Most open systems people and free software people would agree that vendor lockin is a bad thing. Why is employer lockin any different? Let them compete on merit, not on crummy "stock options" bundling deals involving ambiguous promises of unspecified (and often unrealized) future reward. The world does not owe you a living just because you are a company. If you can't motivate staff to see your project through to completion, is that your problem or theirs?

... and as for "long-term commitment", you can have mine when I can see that I have yours. It cuts both ways.

(And that's about the nearest I'll probably get on Advogato to long angsty rants about recent personal events. Please proceed directly to whatever conclusions you find most entertaining)