[Dclug] Where is the free software dividend?

[Michael Stone]

On Thu, Nov 30, 2006 at 09:44:12AM -0500, Vanderhoof, Tzadik wrote:
>Isn't this a major problem for the cause of Open Source operating
>systems?  Is there any solution?

An antitrust action that limits the monopolist's ability to exclude 
competitive choice on software shipped with systems. For certain models 
from certain vendors you can choose your OS, in which case there's an 
(expensive) MS option as well as an (expensive) RHEL options as well as 
(possibly) a much less expensive "no OS" option. For other models, 
especially (high volume/cheap) consumer systems, the vendor gets much 
better pricing from the monopoly if their systems are "designed for" 
(and only available with) the monopoly OS.

Mike Stone