Zemlin also cited Linux as inexpensive and more. "While Linux is the most affordable platform out there, Linux is a lot more than that," he said, adding Linux is about changing assumptions. It also is about software development and sharing, he said.

Linux , though, needs standards, and such efforts as  the Linux Standard Base are afoot, Zemlin said. Standards, though, must be open and prevent a de facto lock-in situation, he added. There also are organizations and programs to help with Linux users facing patent issues, such as Linux Defenders, Zemlin said.

Afterward, Imad Sousou, director of the Intel open source technology center, pondered the Intel-created Moblin project for a Linux mobile platform and cited improvements planned for Moblin 2, which is now in a beta stage of release.

"Big corporations are not good shepherds of open source projects, at least not long-term," Sousou said.

Moblin features are dictated by benefits to the user experience. Also inspiring the project is an intention to get away from a habit of building "clones" of 20-year-old operating systems, Sousou said.