If not for VARs, there would never have been a Red Hat. When you think about it, Red Hat got their start as a value added reseller pushing Linux and they depend on VARs today to move their products. If VARs had never worked with open source, IBM would never have dropped a million bucks into Linux development in order to make the OS ready to run on their iron so they could offer Tux as an option alongside AIX. If VARs always held closed minds to open source, McNealy and Schwartz would never have open-sourced Java, Solaris or the Star Office code – nor would they have purchased MySQL. True, VARs have traditionally chosen to go the proprietary route, which they’ve considered better paved and better marked, but they’ve not been unwilling to take a chance and go down the unmarked gravel road of open source. Mainly, VARs just want to make money, which makes them a pretty agnostic lot. They’ll worship at the cathedral or the bazaar – or anywhere else where the cash register is liable to go ka-ching.