Matt Asay of Novell comes closer than anyone else I’ve read so far to my ideas about open source in this article in IT Manager’s Journal. Its still the same old argument that the way to make money on Linux is to give away products and sell services.

But that’s bologna for the most part. What’s driving Linux is not what the producers get out of it, its the value to users. Its what customers can do now that the cost is reduced that produces value. Its also the reason that business prefer (for their own use) commodity products over branded differentiation.

Competing for service is then not the better opportunity for business (than the sale of IP model), its simply the only one left when nobody will buy IP.