I personally don't believe that the world is ready for all software to be open-source. I think that the majority of people that own or use computers don't know enough about them to appreciate what open source would do for the development community. The majority of users want to put a CD in a drive and install pre-compiled binaries because they have a job to do. They don't want to be bogged down in the nuances of what a tweak here or a tuck there could do for performance.

With that said, I think that we all can see and appreciate what open source has done already. With things like linux, MySQL, Apache and Tomcat geeks like me can build killer apps for the cost of the PC that they run on and I can change whatever I want to to make my creations do what I want them to. It truly is a wonderful thing.

I predict that in the future open source software is going to erode the grip that companies like Microsoft have on the software market and that small shops developing open source projects will find a way to make money with what they produce. MS apps just keep getting fatter and fatter on their own, and small outfits can't afford to code in pork.