Philosophy and economics of Ubuntu

[Rudi von Staden]

I'm busy downloading Ubuntu and am really impressed with what I'm
hearing so far. Being South African, I'm also glad that Mark
Shuttleworth is backing it! I've been trying to convince several of my
economically oriented friends that this is a significant step towards
Linux becoming a viable option in the desktop market, especially
within the private sector. Their response is that Open Source will
never succeed in the long term because there is no financial incentive
for the developers/investors. I don't want to clog the list with
philosophical debates on Open Source, but I am curious about why Mark
Shuttleworth would invest in Ubuntu - is it purely benevolent or is it
intended to return a profit in the future?

Thanks,
Rudi