> If you can make your competitor's core a commodity, you've gone a long way towards reducing their effectiveness as your competitor. I've been considering thi

> If you can make your competitor's core a commodity, you've gone a long way towards reducing their effectiveness as your competitor. I've been considering this idea a lot and I think it explains the motivations of a surprising number of technical advancements. The masses get better free/open stuff as new competitors come along and enlist the community to help undermine the incumbents.