But I'm preaching to the choir. You know all of this. We never like to divulge IP outside of our companies - even when protected by NDA's. The answer, as we all know, has presented itself in the form of Linux. There are no license fees.
Source code is available without any additional fees.
3Com, my employer, is currently investing large dollars per year just in basic support efforts for Linux, and Linux-based projects. This does not even include the expense in Linux-based product software. I am not real comfortable comparing 3Com to a goose, but the dollars constitute quite a golden egg. And, I'm sure we are not alone in this effort. I, and my team, greatly respect the concepts and the value and the power of Open Source.