Seattle Weekly: News: Citizen Microsoft by Jeff Reifman: "Many of Microsoft's competitors are finding ways to benefit from the success of so-called open-source software. Open source is software no one person or company owns outright. It is essentially free, developed cooperatively over the Internet by programmers who openly share their improvements. They make money by helping businesses use the software. So instead of profiting by making an operating system or core applications, many businesses today, including IBM, Novell, and HP, profit by helping companies use open-source software they have enhanced. The Linux operating system is the most noteworthy example of open source. Microsoft has not embraced this emerging business model and has, in fact, waged an aggressive disinformation campaign against it. In a recent visit to Asia, Gates said, 'If you don't want to create jobs or intellectual property, then there is a tendency to develop open source,' according to Asia Computer Weekly. Gates knows that competitors are taking in billions of dollars in open-source-related revenue."