“Ironically, the proliferation of Windows enabled cheap
development platforms based on Intel hardware, slashing the cost of
development compared with the IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Sun
Microsystems workstations that preceded them. As many of these
Intel platforms found their way into programmers’ homes for
after-hours work, the version of Unix best geared to Intel hardware
– Linux – began to grow in popularity and spawn the collaborative
development of freely shared code.”
“It may seem odd to grant Microsoft credit for generating
the open source code movement, but by driving down the cost of a
desktop, it democratized access to computing power. By doing so in
a highly proprietary manner, it generated a grassroots wish to
fight domination. With an Internet infrastructure needing to
be built, the only thing missing was the coordination of groups of
developers in guerilla assaults on the domineering power. Open
source code team leaders, like Michael Thiemann (the first open C++
compiler), Larry Wall (Perl) and Brian Behlendorf (Apache), seized
the role.”