Linux Wins
There must be many reasons the US military has chosen to invest so much cash in Linux. The Department of Defense is one of the most powerful (the most powerful?) and best budgeted (the biggest budget?) software buyers and developers on the planet. Via US companies they are the world's biggest supplier and manufacturer of weaponry.
That's a lot of Linux based software and the ultimate 'Why choose Linux' report to go with it..even if their software development is restricted to camouflaged versions of Excel the implication is that a linux platform scored highest overall from the list of -
return on investment
speed of development
freedom of development
security
interoperability
usability
reliability
flexibility
fit for purpose
profit making
patriotism (immigrant Torvalds over citizen Gates, US jobs)
learning curve
etc etc etc
Even if they got it wrong (and they have been known to) , from an organization that believes, absolutely, in the need for technical superiority and associated skills (with the conviction they posses these attributes) their choice is supremekly influential. This battle is the turning point in the war and the one the stock market will be changing sides after.
Is 'hippy hacker' concern at Linux becoming the 'Oppenheimer OSS' the reason celebrations are so relatively muted? If so, txs developers for showing this glimmer of emotion winning out over *reason* and would you please code a 'Swords into Ploughshares' switch into the core?