Awareness of open source based companies grows.

One of the things that I have attempted to do with this blog is to point out that Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), which includes Linux, is simply good for business. In the past, I have highlighted companies like eBay, Amazon and Google that run on Linux to prove a point, that point being that FOSS lowers the barriers to entry (starting a business is cheaper) and that it allows a business to function more efficiently, since there are no worries about paying tons of money every time a computer hits a desk or a new server is deployed.

Today, I'm able to add a few other companies to my list. Yahoo runs on FreeBSD, which is FOSS that is similar to Linux. Hotmail ran on FreeBSD, before Microsoft got a hold of it.

So, why waste the money on Microsoft or even Mac products when most of what you need is available as FOSS. If it's not available for a niche application, adapt something else or run Window as a Virtual Machine.