>I think he's just tooting the MS line. Certainly they see Linux as a threat to their market as (disingeniously IMO) expressed by S.Ballmer recently. Basically, if Linux gains more acceptance it will be hard to compete with a free product.

Undoubtedly. I guess what really got me is that his views on Open Source can affect a lot more than just Linux, though I am sure you are right...Linux is the main thing on MS's radar.

>FWIW, I'm still wondering if all these companies selling Linux-related services will sustain profitability with their business models. If these companies continue to flop that could be a problem for Linux to gain broader market share.

Good point. But now that companies like IBM and HP are beginning to seriously back Linux, I think it's future is pretty sound. Most industry analysts believe that IBM will phase out their flavor of Unix (AIX) and go all Linux in a few years (especially as more 64-bit hardware platforms arrive). That's quite a feather in the penguin's hat! *smile*

JoeK