Yes, but what guarantee is there that larger will always equal better? Isn't it possible to have a smaller but more focused and better-qualified group that outperfoms a larger but less focused group? That was more the point I was making - that trade-offs are potentially involved. I'm not saying that's the case with Microsoft and Linux, but if you're making in-principle arguments, then I think it's a legitimate hypothetical case.

On cryptography, a complicating factor there is that the 'closed-source' opposition is primarily agencies like the NSA, who aren't going to be disclosing their capabilities anytime soon, making that sort of argument (I think) much harder to evaluate.

[ reply ]

Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/269/28692#28692