Regardless of which camp you fall under, Matusow said competition between Microsoft and Linux is good for IT.
"Product competition increases choice, improves price through competition," he said, citing competition between Linux flavors from Red Hat, Mandrake and Novell. "Product competition is healthy."
This has to be the definitive and irrefutable point that anybody can draw from this article. In other words, since competition naturally drives innovation, everybody benefits, period. Thus, OSS's role in the software/IT economy is more than validated--its essential role was just spelled out.
On the other hand, i think it will be interesting to hear what GE has to say about this...
"Product competition increases choice, improves price through competition," he said, citing competition between Linux flavors from Red Hat, Mandrake and Novell. "Product competition is healthy."
There was also a lot of competition before OSS, which helped drive innovation. Although, admittedly, MS is not the most innovative company around.