Leaving aside the factually inaccuracy in the example...
If you want to stick with 'N', you can. And you can fix it to suit your needs. If you want to convert your database, there are no barriers in your way -- and you can distribute your results. Or maybe you want N+1 to work with the old format -- either way, nothing's stopping you.
If you're not categorically against proprietary software, the converter may be a really good purchase; better than any of the above options. But you're not 'trapped' into buying it -- no more so than, say, GIMP 'traps' you into using photoshop by lacking non-destructive editing features.
The fact that the situation would be kind of lame is because for almost everyone, in practice, It's vastly more useful for your software to be actively maintained than it is for it to be 'open' -- and the developers abandon 'n' when they move on.
If you want to stick with 'N', you can. And you can fix it to suit your needs. If you want to convert your database, there are no barriers in your way -- and you can distribute your results. Or maybe you want N+1 to work with the old format -- either way, nothing's stopping you.
If you're not categorically against proprietary software, the converter may be a really good purchase; better than any of the above options. But you're not 'trapped' into buying it -- no more so than, say, GIMP 'traps' you into using photoshop by lacking non-destructive editing features.
The fact that the situation would be kind of lame is because for almost everyone, in practice, It's vastly more useful for your software to be actively maintained than it is for it to be 'open' -- and the developers abandon 'n' when they move on.