Another view on Open Source

There is a sizeable literature and advocacy for open source software -- it has come up earlier on this blog. I thought this contrarian view would be worth bringing up. Quoting from the article:

How about if you are a user? Your real goal is to drive down the cost per transaction each year. Theoretically you love the idea, but in actuality it scares the crap out of you.

There are nonstrategic potential uses, but what you really want is for your vendors to reduce the cost of their proprietary systems. Your entire plan is to commoditize your vendor; his entire plan is not to let his product or operating system be commoditized.