Philosophy and economics of Ubuntu

[Brett Kirksey]

<My Two Cents>

    I believe free software/open source will survive on its own.
    I also believe that free software/open source is very good
    for capitalism as well as the users.

    When a community effort provides free, quality software,
    then for profit companies must have a level of quality or
    features in their software that justify paying for it. This
    is apparent now with Apple's OS X. You could do a Linux or
    BSD system for free, or you can pay Apple for making it
    super-easy to work with.

    Also, Apple provides a Web browser, e-mail client, calendar
    software, etc. with OS X, but third-parties are still doing
    well developing their own solutions. They either hit a niche
    or add more features and more quality that make the products
    worth paying for (BareBones, OmniGroup, etc.).

    So, free software/open source increases competition. The
    people win with better software whether they use the free or
    the bought products.

</My Two Cents>

Brett