For the record, InfoWorld gave the Linux community an award for "Best
Support in the industry". That was back in 1998, and the situation has
improved since then.

One could look at a Linux distribution as a single product, but a more
accurate point of view is that a Linux distribution is thousands of
products shipped and distributed on a single DVD or package of CD-ROMS.

Look at the hundreds of patches and security fixes that get the system
upgraded. Linux distributors are very good at getting these updates to
their customers, those who don't tend to lose customers, or don't see
much revenue.

There are many of those products shipped with Linux distributions that
are also available in commercial versions. Often the commercial
versions include additional support, more features, and special "paying
customers only" plug-ins and tools.

One very simple but dramatic example is Eclipse. Eclipse is included
on most Linux distributions and pretty darn good all by itself. If you
want to put up some cash, you can get WebSphere 5.x or WebSphere 6.x
and get Eclipse with a fully functional J2EE and a number of other
great tools and features. For some bigger bucks you can add WMQ,
Workflow (Orchestrator) and other features.