Marc Canter points out here that open source and free software are not inseparable and that one can build a commercial business using open source components.  I agree.  Gentleware built Poseidon UML using ArgoUML, an open source project.  I don't know how they are doing financially, but they are getting a lot of downloads.  But it seems to me that a) open source and free software is a popular and natural two-step, one following the other, and b) both open source and free software are highly wildfire like, meaning they spread fast and are difficult to control.

Scott Johnson posted a point by point rebuttal here.  He makes many reasonable points.  I do agree that Microsoft is harming the software market.  I also agree that Mitch has a right to do what he wants with his money just as I have a right to complain about it.  Yes, the PIM market is owned by Microsoft, but I disagree with Mitch's remedy due to potential side-effects.  I disagree that there is no sense of value for software in this country.  I do agree that I seem to be buying less software than before, but I ask what factors might have caused this change?  Microsoft contributed, but there are other factors involved.  Regarding his comment about possible conflict between my wish #2 and trade secret law, while we consume Coca Cola, file formats are used to store information that belongs to us so we do have a right to access independent of the file format creator's survivability.

Andrew Shearer also posted that sense of value is already gone and that OSAF just means more competition with beneficial effects.

My thanks to them for the feedback.