Open Source vs. Proprietary Software

The "scrufffy guy coding away in his basement" archetype stopped applying to open-source software a while ago. It just doesn't make sense when you consider that heavyweight vendors like IBM and Microsoft - which built empires based on proprietary software - constitute some of biggest contributors in money and development resources to widely used open-source projects like the Linux OS.

In turn, Red Hat has built a nearly billion-dollar business based on open source. So where's the controversy? The situation may not be that as much as it is a quest for bragging rights.

"A lot of software innovation today is being driven by organizations that aren't in the business of selling software, which means that a great deal of it is open source," says Redmonk analyst Stephen O'Grady. "Proprietary software's role as the primary innovator in the market is, effectively, over."...