Well, I came to HN through pg's writing, and part of my enjoyment was the confirmation of my distrust/dislike of MS. So I'm guessing that self-selection plays

Well, I came to HN through pg's writing, and part of my enjoyment was the confirmation of my distrust/dislike of MS. So I'm guessing that self-selection plays a large role here. That said, I think open source has great benefits for a startup, but you've got to weigh that for yourself.