The Best Things in Life Are Free
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| The problem for many software companies is that free and open source is
| not some special characteristic of software. It's a development and
| deployment model and it stems from both ideology (e.g., the Free
| Software Foundation) and the economics of commoditization, with the
| economic factor being the bigger force. Because the economics of
| commodities are driving the industry, you can expect to see the market
| share of mature software businesses erode as open source expands.
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http://www.dmreview.com/article_sub.cfm?articleId=1063881
Related article:
Microsoft and the Broken Window Theory of Economics
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| While we don't usually report on anything Microsoft related (as it's
| outside PCBurn's perview) this tidbit was too good for me to pass up.
| Microsoft is reporting (at El Reg) that by releasing an operating system
| it will magically create $40 Billion dollars rather than simply suck
| money out of Europe. They've done this by positing a story somewhat
| similar to the theory of "broken window" economics.
|
| [...]
|
| In short form, a boy breaks a window and his father, the shop keeper,
| then has to have it replaced. It is a given to the people looking on
| the scene that this is good becuase it keeps the glazier employed in
| making windows.
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http://pcburn.com/article.php?sid=1788
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