1. The Competitive Advantage Of Linux Presentation to BarCamp Geelong 2011 July 9, 2011 http://levlafayette.com

2. Linux and Free and Open-Source Software ● Linux a UNIX-like (e.g., Linux, AIX, xBSD, MacOS, QNX, Hurd) operating system. ● Consisting of the Linux kernel and a suite of applications (GNU, Android). ● Free and Open-Source Software is contrasted to proprietary software ("closed source").

3. Competitive Advantage ● Competitive advantage proposed by Michael Porter in 1985 as an elaboration of David Ricardo's comparative advantage (1817), itself an elaboration from Adam Smith's absolute advantage (1776). ● Argues that organisations (businesses, countries) should seek to out-perform competitors in providing value. ● Follows on from Porter's "Five Forces" approach to analysing industry competition (1979).

4. Competitive Advantage != Monopolistic Advantage ● Much of Porter's theory of "competitive advantage" is actually about behaving in a monopolistic fashion. ● Reducing competitive threats as a path to profit reduces productivity as it requires monopolistic behaviour. ● Monopolistic companies provide damaged goods which deliberately reduce overall utility and overall production.

5. Competitive Advantage != Monopolistic Advantage

6. Linux's Competitive Advantage ● Information Goods tend towards zero cost of reproduction. ● FOSS is also far superior in providing positive externalities. ● Monopolistic producers will attempt to apply monopolistic advantage. ● Such activity will incur legal and economic consequences.

7. The Future Is Free ● There is already sufficient FOSS office application software to replace proprietary solutions. ● On average, a saving of $1500 per system unit per annum can be saved. ● Software is increasingly becoming free and open-source. ● The Free and Open Source movement is spreading to other goods (especially information goods)