"Most customers that I have spoken with believe that the biggest value of open source is choice: choice of hardware platforms and choice of software applications. Customers can buy hardware from many vendors, and they no longer have to run applications just available on a particular proprietary operating system."

This is true, the only hardware choice you have with MS is Intel processors, but that may not be as bad as it seems. Most customers are moving out of other hardware platforms (RISC etc.) to intel based platforms (using Linux or Windows) for lower TCO. When talking about choice of software applications, Bill seems to contradict his article since you do have more choice of software apps on windows over linux. Definitely on the desktop and even in the enterprise. There is no major enterprise or desktop software app today that will not run on Windows.

The lack of choice here is in the operating system, but what exactly is the real impact of that?

The only thing that Linux lacks that Windows has is Windows compatibility.

I'll say it too, "Good article Bill".

Now, do you REALLY think M$ will embrace opensource "openly"?? I'm sure a large chunk of Windoze is already open-source, but M$ would never admit it.

M$ would rather die than give up any power, or money. OK, it's their choice. Let them live^H^H^H^Hdie by it.

Linux IS superior to M$, period. The only area where Linux lags Windoze is gaming and that's changing bit by bit.

So now we see why Bill Claybrook was always pushing Linux at Aberdeen, turns out he was about to start selling it. If Claybrook has a problem with someone claiming their O/S is superior on all levels, have him deal with his own Linux zealots first.

I'm a C/C++ developer now switching almost entirely to unix/linux. Since MS has gone entirely .net, and interpreted, not compiled code. I might as well develop web apps. (+ fell in love with php).
Programming in the windows environment, difficult errors I've found to be about 30% due to MS's sloppy work, and %70 my error. On linux/unix, the errors are almost entirely mine. I'm tired of debugging windows code...it's not my job, and I'm tired of being held responsible for their slop.
IMHO, MS has a limited lifetime, due mainly to their own greed.

I'm a C/C++ developer now switching almost entirely to unix/linux. Since MS has gone entirely .net, and interpreted, not compiled code. I might as well develop web apps. (+ fell in love with php).
Programming in the windows environment, difficult errors I've found to be about 30% due to MS's sloppy work, and %70 my error. On linux/unix, the errors are almost entirely mine. I'm tired of debugging windows code...it's not my job, and I'm tired of being held responsible for their slop.
IMHO, MS has a limited lifetime, due mainly to their own greed.

The biggest joke is that their API is going to be preserved, like it or not, by the F/LOSS crowd in the form of WINE, ReactOS, Twin, Twine, and several other related back-handed complements. Not forgetting of course, the separated-at-birth twins, MONO and DotGNU/PNET.

They could get some really valuable PR out of releasing major parts of the obsolete, end-of-line and unsupported Operating Ssystems and applications to the F/LOSS community, allowing them to interact with MS's own products on a saner basis - but I don't expect them to do any such thing.

Pity, but - adapt or die. It doesn't get any more simple than that.

Actually, I am wondering if I am the only one who sees Microsoft bashing Linux out of one side of their mouth and stealing open source projects out the other side. Exchange was based on a dead branch of what became LDAP without their help. They are claiming their new security program but even the name is the same as the technology they stole it from. Heck, windows was stolen from PARC, and even DOS was stolen from they guy who invented it before Microsoft sold it to IBM without so much as a thank you and by only changing the copyrights. My guess is that underlying every major Microsoft "development" is a similar but slightly different open source program which they stole from, didn't give back to, and attempted to sell value-added by merely their name being on it.
America needs to wake up and smell the jasmine tea. China didn't take it lying down. They stole microcrap stuff and sold it 20 feet away for much cheaper in downtown Beijing,then when the law firm of Gates and Ballmer and associates wrote nasty threatening legal notices, China thumbed their noses at ms and adopted open source such as Linux across the board.
Now, the only licenses being bought in China are by people with more money than they know what to do with. And the ms propoganda artists are giving microcrap away with free lessons in order to take a page from the drug cartels and make a generation of addicted hostages who will keep coming back for more fixes.
Am I the only one who sees this?

Excellent article. I agree that the primary reason for embracing Linux and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is choice: to avoid being locked in to Microsoft's monopoly. If Microsoft offered that choice itself, it would go a long way toward alleviating the distrust many feel toward Microsoft.

Of course, this would mean putting products such as Open Office head to head with Microsoft products such as Office so that users that did not want to get locked in to proprietary data formats would be able to easily use the products side by side (and, when running Office, save documents in open formats by default).

Other reasons for choosing Linux include the better reliability, security, and performance of the Linux platform, the ability to patch problems without waiting for action by Microsoft, the ability to hire competitive service contractors, assurance that a total simultaeous hardware, software, and skills upgrade at Microsoft's whim will not be forced.

To say that MS has no open source code in their code base I believe is very likely incorrect.

It's been alleged by many that originally based their TCP/IP stack on code taken from BSDI - though it's never been proven.

Put it in language that the folks at Redmond can comprehend...

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=33540&cid=3625906