What the "Free" in Open Source means
Most consumers tend to believe that the 'value' of open source software lies in its low cost, which tends to be 'free'. But, as Francisco Martinez notes, the "free" in open source refers more to "freedom" as in political liberty rather than cost reduction. It is the most powerful tool limiting the ability of any one company, say Microsoft for example, to unilaterally impose whatever norms, prices, or standards it would wish to impose on its consumers. The existence of options, and hence the freedom of choice, allows users to switch companies whenever they feel those companies transgress their limits, thereby imposing a direct cost onto these. Should the company hold a monopoly, and suffer no consequences, one could pretty much expect to act as all companies without restrictions have historically acted. (The same principle can also be applied to nations, such as China.) Open source continues the decentralization of information commerce, as described by Tim Berners who first "invented" the internet.