Oracle, a firm that sells commercial ERP and database products, provides Linux for free, selling high-margin Linux support contracts for as much as five hundred thousand dollars. Oracle's motivation for this lies in:
A) accelerating the shift of open source software towards a proprietary regime.
B) using open source software to fuel sales of ware.
C) impoverishing other open source developers and furthering its own proprietary offerings.
D) using open source software to wean customers away from competitors.
E) protecting itself from the risks of distributing code while unaware of legal implications.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Oracle provides Linux for free to attract customers away from competitors, hoping they will purchase Oracle's high-margin support contracts, thus using open source software as a strategic tool to gain market share.

Oracle, a Firm That Sells Commercial ERP and Database Products