“WHETHER you are an advocate or a company hoping to surf the
OpenSource/Free Software wave, Microsoft is your best ally. And
either way, you are Microsoft’s insurance policy for the
future.”
“For the advocate of Free Source systems, where access to source
code on a non-discriminatory basis is the key identifier, and where
money is not the prime consideration, the motivation may be to give
Microsoft a bloodied nose.”
“At the same time, the people who develop under open licences
serve to motivate Microsoft. Like the American military-industrial
complex, Microsoft needs an enemy. Lots of them. And the tougher
the better. Left to its own devices, Microsoft might wither. But
with real competition to inspire it to circle the wagons, it has a
reason to try harder.”