“The best accomplishment is sharing solutions and spreading the
word in hopes of providing services to the ever widening base of
users of a peer-reviewed, continually evolving operating system. If
ISA, PCI, and IDE are what make PC hardware commodity goods, then
Linux and its push for open standards such as GCC and the Internet
protocols will be what makes thin client, server, and workstation
software commodity goods.”
“The GNU GPL license is important for this to happen, but the
acceptance of non-proprietary APIs, protocols, and file formats is
even more important. Do not forget that the spread of Microsoft is
accomplished more through an acceptance of it as a “standard” than
anything else. The licens removes the restrictions on software
propagation, but even with prohibitive license agreements with
Microsoft products, many Windows copies out there are
bootlegged.”
“Just imagine how far Linux can go without the stigma of
unauthorised distribution. With multiple vendors providing
essentially the same software, the ISV (independent software
vendor) industry is primed to explode with offerings for all facets
of the computing economy. Think of companies that start off
purchasing distributions, tailoring them for specific applications,
and turning around and selling their solutions in a custom
distribution. This is a completely new paradigm that makes
Microsoft inevitably just another player, not the player for
everyone.“