Vendor lock-out occurs when a software vendor uses proprietary formats, lack of configurability or other means to prevent a user from using the vendor s product in conjunction with products from other vendors.

The opposite of lock-out is integrable. This is not the same as integrated. Many products that suffer from lock-out are described as integrated solutions, but often do not allow further integration. Lock-out tactics are beneficial to vendors as they coerce users into purchasing more products from that same vendor.

Users of free software, free in the Free Software Foundation sense, are generally protected from vendor lock-out. Because any motivated programmer can modify free software, lock-out is a temporary situation, and its market benefits are unlikely to outweigh the repercussions from users who may switch distributors.

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