"Sun Microsystems has become its own free software foundation,
open-sourcing everything from Java to Solaris, and acquiring the
open-source MySQL database for $1 billion in January of this year,
as a way to grow its revenue.
"It seems counter-intuitive, but Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz has
been betting the company on that strategy. Speaking at the
Supernova 2008 conference, Schwartz explained that free software
brings the marginal cost to acquire a customer to zero and helps
drive revenue..."