http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/24/skype_vuln/

describes a vulnerability in Skype’s clients. Okay, no big deal, bugs happen in programs. Just switch to another program for awhile until it gets fixed.

What? you mean, the program and the protocol are one? You can’t switch without switching networks? Isn’t that bad?

Yes, it is.

The reason why we should strive to use standards in our network protocols is so that one can have a competitive marketplace where one can use the best software that there is.

And one should be able to trivially switch from one to another: we do this all the time everywhere. Let’s take an example from motoring: we get upset if the vendors of gasoline (petrol) do not compete! We expect all of the gasoline to be essentially interchangeable. Honestly, anything else is communism.