Z:gnu-www-ja-software-libre-commercial-viability--a0d297-Rather, I'm talking about all/en

Rather, I'm talking about all environments where a strong competition exists for a product only loosely based on its software component. For example, industrial equipment might include a computer and some commodity hardware (a robot, custom I/O peripherals, PLC s, etc.); the software application hosted in the computer is a minor part of the whole, but its features greatly affect the overall value of the equipment. Producing and debugging such applications usually require huge investments; free redistribution of source code is thus prevented as a form of protection against competitors.