But there was definitely a time where Linux was competing with Minix, which was low price (affordable to a Hacker) and had more features. However its developme

But there was definitely a time where Linux was competing with Minix, which was low price (affordable to a Hacker) and had more features. However its development wasn't done in the open and it was not "free" (in the FOSS) sense, so it's usage in a specific setting (e.g. commercial) was not possible. I guess Linux open license played a huge role in its adoption and not just the fact that it was free as in "beer" (compared to expensive traditional Unix systems) - and within a short time it surpassed Minix features. There might be disagreements about technical choices made (see legendary conversation about kernel architecture), but in terms of features it surpassed Minix in a short time (and today sets the state of the art for commercial Unices).