How Open Source Can Beat the Status Quo
One of the biggest problems with open source is understanding what it means out in the real world. I'm not talking about understanding the actual technology. I'm talking about the impact of open source. How open source is actually useful.
There's little doubt that, should Google launch any further software products or platforms in future, there's a strong chance they'll be open source.
In many key ways, Google uses open source as a weapon with which to beat Microsoft over the head. Google uses open source to define itself, and thereby illustrate the difference between itself and fuddy-duddy Microsoft (a trick also used by Apple, at least a few years ago).
The Google people also know how much open source irritates Microsoft and how using open source destroys Microsoft's traditional "fear, uncertainty and doubt" (FUD) approach to discrediting open source. The next time somebody asks you what Linux ever did for anybody, point out that the Google search they just did was facilitated by it.
Keir Thomas is the author of several books on Ubuntu, including the free-of-charge Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference .
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