What would change, what would stay the same?
For a start, I think hardware manufacturers will want to make Linux compatible hardware. That is good.
Some of the stores will start to offer more pre-installed linux, following the precursors VectorLinux/Madtux lol and Ubunto/Dell.
How would this change affect us who already use Linux?
Not too much. I am tempted to say "distros will be better" because the new sponsors or commercial opportunities, but we already have the best os around LOL. I guess we could get a benefit from the more hardware available, but all of us already buy just Linux compatible hardware (well, I have a non-compatible pci audio card, but I learned from my experience
, btw, dont buy the maya44 pci card from ego-sys). The prices will be lower, I think Linux requires some hardware a little more expensive, at least in my market.
Would there be more money to be made for Linux developers?
May be, but they are too much, impossible to maintain as a non-open-source structure and pay to all of them.
Would Linux developers have to change they way they do things in any way?
I think someones will, some distros will have a better position (I guess the big ones) but the rest will still work as until now. I think the small ones will need to find a very special market to build a commercial profile,
i.e. make a distro for people with special needs, and non-covered by major distros. For example, I work for a small business, and I would like a distro with a lampp server, open software crm / erp solution integrated to a web site / os-commerce, CAD (we are a factory), you get it. You could build a distro with a special version to cover a special market, in parallel with the general purpose one. You can sell related services as well, like network installation, several customizations, etc.
