“In the proprietary arena, patent wars have raged out of
control, while the old “security through obscurity” theory has been
proven wrong. Piracy has continued unabated around the globe, the
mobile arena has become increasingly locked down, and the
possibility of a new generation of Windows 8-only PCs looms on the
horizon.Threats to software users’ freedom are coming fast and furious,
in other words, making the open source alternatives–with all their
myriad benefits for businesses and consumers–look better than
ever.