"a proprietary standard library – however huge – just can't compete with the open source ecosystems of Python and friends."
Depends on what one needs. If data crunching ala R and Pandas is all one needs - maybe. But I've not found an open source platform that would do all Mathematica does as efficiently (as measured by development time). Also, if a software package brings value to a company, there is no reason they would not pay to use it if it brings obvious value above it's fixed cost.
Depends on what one needs. If data crunching ala R and Pandas is all one needs - maybe. But I've not found an open source platform that would do all Mathematica does as efficiently (as measured by development time). Also, if a software package brings value to a company, there is no reason they would not pay to use it if it brings obvious value above it's fixed cost.