It opened newsgroups, established a dialogue with users, and formalized a method for submitting suggestions and problem reports. But Microsoft's Windows 98 is as close to a toaster as a satellite transponder is to a telephone. I've had one toaster for eight years and never called for support on it. Linux takes advantage and lands a left hook. Its open source code model is the equivalent of sending beta versions to the entire community.
Testers can modify the code to their hearts' content.
Microsoft's source code is so closed that most of its own engineers haven't seen it. Microsoft's source code is so closed that most of its own engineers haven't seen it. The argument of Red Hat President Bob Young is simple. Because users have access to the source code, they know how their program interacts with the operating system and know how to fix problems without calling support. This makes sense because most applications written for Linux are entirely customized or highly customized.