At least for me, usability isn't the point of free software. I want my free software to be usable, yes, and usability should be a goal for the development teams, but the overriding benefit of free software is that it is free. It puts the power back in my hands as an end user. Even if I don't have the technical skills to make use of that freedom, the freedom is important. This is something that "closed-source" applications don't have. If Microsoft made Office free tomorrow and it were easier to use than OpenOffice (it is, though that isn't saying much), I'd use it. But Microsoft Office has vendor lock-in problems and platform compatibility issues, and I'm not free to make it better. If people value usability over freedom, that is their choice. I don't begrudge them the headaches of a different sort that they are incurring.
The motherboard on my XP machine died and I dug out my old w2k machine and (amongst other things) I installed OpenOffice. I only use OO for word documents and spreadsheets but it has served my needs without problems. So why can't I convince anyone else to try it? My guess is that they know Microsoft Office, and they feel safer being in the same boat as everyone else. Any problem won't be their fault. The old FUD.
I disagree. That software is free might be an excuse for why not waste time on the usability, but it sure ain't a good reason if you want more than developers to use it.
