What vendors really mean by 'open source'

"The mixed-source model is essentially similar to the first, but involves the grudging acknowledgment that some open source products are okay-ish, while, at the same time, suggesting that what you really need is the vendor's fine proprietary software to do the real work.

"Unsurprisingly, this model only works when combined with legal threats and the encumbrance--real or presumed--of software patents and other barriers to entry.

"Minimal benefits are passed on to the user in a "buy this and we'll throw in one of these for free" approach that also perpetuates the mixed-source vendor's propaganda that free software is not as good as proprietary."

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