Why Linux owes (part of) its success to Microsoft

"So how did this come about? Simple, Microsoft's near monopoly created the conditions needed for Torvald's strategy to succeed - because Microsoft's success depended on convincing customers that frequent adaptation to small changes reduces total risk relative to significant but infrequent change and resulted in, among many other things, a trailing cloud of low cost, Linux compatible, hardware and the resentments needed to motivate use of it.

"Torvalds gets a lot of credit both for being among the first to exploit open source ideas and for his effective management of the Linux kernel development process - but I think he should also be credited for being among the first to see that a second best kernel design optimized for a third rate processor would offer the right combination for market success."

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