Why Closed Source Software is More Secure

One of the things open source advocates often pride themselves on is their software of choice being more secure than the closed source alternatives. I'm beginning to wonder if we shouldn't though. You see I got into a discussion with a Windows system administrator the other day and it got me thinking. I've come to realize there are a number of ways closed source software is more secure than open source alternatives.

It secures a safer code base, ensuring that the software cannot be exploited.

A small team with limited resources can easily find and resolve issues faster than a limitless number of people are able to. With this in mind having a code base that only a small development team has access to is clearly safer than having an open project.

It secures a proprietary market lock for the company making said software.

Having a lock on your given market is important. If market locks didn't exist companies wouldn't be able to charge outrageous prices for their inventions. If software was open it would lead to standardized protocols. Standardized protocols would force market leaders to continue to be innovative and provide the overall best product to maintain their standing.

With closed source software a company needs to simply be the first to provide a decent piece of software for a given task. Once they capture a majority of the market, the software is able to degrade without losing many users.

It secures more money every update release for the company making said software.

It's clear that a company with an open source business model could never succeed. Once you lock your users into using your product you can charge them whatever you want each time you release a new version. This is OK though, big cooperations would never want to hurt their users! I mean it's not like anyone would ever charge thousands of dollars for a new version of their software right?

While it seems there might be some argument for closed source software being more secure, I'm not sure that this Linux advocate is fully convinced as of yet. What is your take on the subject?

~Jeff Hoogland