Has Linux got your attention yet? One of the liveliest questions around the Microsoft break-up court order is whether Linux-based software can seize any ground Bill Gates is forced to give up. The Linux operating system turns Microsoft’s model on its head: it’s open-source, meaning all its recipes are public; it’s free instead of overpriced; and it’s based on shared information instead of patents and copyrights.
Techies have been hooked on open-code software for years, but plain folk are adapting to it, too. Linux users have multiplied from 1000 in 1992 to over 9 Million today; about 35% of internet sites now run on Linux-based servers; major companies like IBM consider Linux a big player.
Open-source software may be free, but Wall Street has its eye on profits built on it. The puzzle now is how exactly a market based on community values and a free product would work.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Bob Young, Co-founder and Chairman of Red Hat
Miguel de Icaza, Founder of Helix Code Inc.
Andrew Leonard, Senior Technical Writer for Salon.com.