OSNews

Ideas like "closed source = capitalism versus open source = communism" are not very thoughtful.

Firstly, it plays into the myth that there are two types of economic systems and capitilism, being the lesser of two evils, has prevailed. Hogwash -- there have been several models of non-market economic systems with checks and balances and incentives for individuals to be economically productive. Just do a google search for Michael Albert and Participatory Economics.

Secondly, I would say that Microsoft is extremely inefficient. If the Open Source (Free Software as well) development methodologies and the closed source development methodologies (as represented by MS) were abstracted from the present market system, and both camps were given equal economic resources, the former would win by a land slide. I would argue that Open Source does a whole lot with very little, were as MS does very little with so much.

Yet they don't really innovate much. They implement existing technologies, hijack standards and market the hell out of there products. (Exchange, Terminal Services, Active Directory, MS-SQL -- nothing innovative here, tweak it, rebrand it).

But MS really does embody capitallism. It is likely most people in the world (and certainly true for all people in developed world) have paid MS in one way or another. Just about every product and service paid for has a trickle up effect filling the MS war chest. Next time you buy gas, toilet paper, food, prescriptions and so forth, just remember that for every penny you spend, a small percentage is trickling up to MS -- not once but at multiple steps of production, distribution, sales and so forth -- its a little thing we call licensing fees