Yes, Microsoft is demanding — and in many cases, receiving royalties — from companies selling devices that run Android, an operating system based on Linux. This shows that its place in the world remains complicated. Though it’s moving to the web, it is still very much a company that makes money selling software — and it still has an interest in protecting this business. But these battles aren’t always what they seem. Android isn’t as much an open source project as a Google project.
The world is not black and white. And neither is the world of software. Not everyone realizes this. But Bill Gates did. And Microsoft is the better for it.
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