In the beginning software was developed in the spirit of community.
As computers became more commonplace (meaning the occasional business
had one) this community was replaced by the corporate firms trying to
sell software like any other product.  The software industry rapidly
grew and literally exploded with the adoption of the PC.  The fortunes
of two of the Earth's richest men were built on the backs of software
licenses.  Bill Gates of Microsoft cashed in on the PC market, and
Larry Ellison helmed ORACLE to capture the database market.  While
these individuals and many others made their fortunes three things
would lead to the beginning of a technical and business revolution.
Richard Stallman, an employee at MIT's prestigious AI Lab would leave
the lab and trumpet software as "Free Speech".  The US Department of
Defense was developing what would eventually become the Internet.  And
in the early 90's a lone Finnish computer science student would send
out a Usenet message which would radically alter the plans of every
major technical organization on the planet.

With IBM adopting it, ORACLE hailing it, and Microsoft trying to
discredit it at every opportunity, there must be something to the Open
Source movement.  For some Open Source is a political movement, and
for others it is simply the best way to rapidly produce high quality
software.  Even people enthusiastic about the movement have asked the
question, "How do you run a business if your product is free?".  Come
and participate in a discussion which aims to answer that fundamental
question, as well as learn about the many advantages (and
disadvantages) of open source for developers, software suppliers, and
software consumers.


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If someone were to tell you that you could get a free car which goes
faster, gets better gas mileage, and handles better then any car you
can buy on the market you would probably think that the person was
insane.  In the software industry there exists a massive amount of
code which does just that.  With the advent of GNU/Linux the Open
Source Movement went from a small group of political minded hackers
and onto people's desktops, companies servers, and the machines which
run the Internet.  Open Source Software businesses are popping up all
over the world and turning traditional software business models on
their head.  Companies as large as IBM, ORACLE, and Apple are going to
make Open Source the cornerstones of their business.  Microsoft, the
largest and richest software company in the world is rapidly shifting
it's business strategy to try and block the adoption of Open Source
Software.  Open Source is garnering attention the world over, but what
exactly is it, what advantages does it give to developers, software
suppliers, and software buyers, and most importantly "How do you make
money on something you give away for free?".  Come and participate in
a discussion which aims to answer these questions, and find out why
Open Source is still beneficial in a country where all software is
almost free.