Mac OS X is a high end niche product that many people have decided to pay for and purchase. <br><br>The problem with Open Source is lack of clear goals, as you will discover when you try to install TV cards fro your Linux box. Gnome 3 is another example. A lot of effort is invested in matters that really do not improve userbility but which are meant to give more freedom. <br>
<br>At some point, people find that they would rather do away with the freedom for efficiency. The same a toll road - fewer exits and entries (freedom) , costly (tolls) for efficiency. <br><br>And some aspects of this free linux have been funded by the same DOD and other non-free companies. Most of the time, Open Source is used as a cost cutting measure to crowd source a solution, or to make it widely adopted for other benefits eg Android to sell Google Services<br>