Re: HBS WK: Who will win Microsoft or Linux?

Matt Asay wrote:

>I guess I don't understand the question.  Last time I checked, Microsoft was
>competing with Linux, not open source.  (I don't think they've fully
>digested this fact yet, but it will hit them eventually.)  Open source is a
>development (and, I'd argue, distribution) methodology.  It's not a product.
>It's not a company.  It's something Microsoft can use as easily, and with as
>much fidelity to their existing, proprietary business as Novell, Red Hat,
>Zend, MySQL, SugarCRM, etc. etc. etc.
>

Agreed. But the concept *is* hard to grasp. I have some back-and-forth
emails with the head of a small proprietary software house in the UK
that I will turn into a commentary at some point. He was talking about
porting to Linux, wondering if anyone would pay for his software and
suchlike, but has no grasp of how open-sourcing his (excellent) screen
capture utility would help, not hurt, his main business.

- Robin