How times change. So don't look to Apple, implied Jensen's post, if you're really looking for excitement. Instead, look to the world of free software, the world of Linux and GNU, of Apache and Perl. Imagine a future in which software development is predicated on the democratic, idealistic and ultimately pragmatic notion that the best software will be created only by making the source code to software programs freely available to the general public. Apple is history.
Free software is the future.
The dialogue was muted, in sharp contrast to the bile and histrionics that have accompanied every showdown between free-software fans or Mac devotees and Microsoft Windows defenders. Maybe that's because the truth isn't as clear-cut as Jensen's joke suggested. Apple has also supported, albeit intermittently, efforts to rewrite Linux so that it will run on various Macintosh platforms. The Mac's strongest point, usability, is Linux's Achilles heel. It's passion that changes the world, not colored plastic.