Via Coding Horror
If Open Source software is free, then why bother spending money on Microsoft Partner stuff? I already know what Microsoft’s detractors will say: “There’s no reason whatsoever. $40 billion per year is totally wasted.”
This, however is not a very satisfying answer, simply because it doesn’t quite ring true. Otherwise there’d be a lot more famous Open Source billionaires out there, being written up in Forbes Magazine or wherever. And Bill Gates would’ve been ousted years ago.…
There are real millionaires– even billionaires– who built companies on open source software. Just ask Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Or the YouTube founders. The real money isn’t in the software. It’s in the service you build with that software.