Software: Is open-source communism?

This month, SAP's Shai Agassi referred to open-source software as "intellectual property socialism." In January, Bill Gates suggested that free-software developers are communists. A few years earlier, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called the open-source operating system Linux "a cancer." Considering what these guys say in public, I wonder what dark words they use behind doors - that al-Qaida uses open-source software for terrorism?

The philosophy behind open-source software is simple. Instead of protecting source code — it encourages programmers to tear apart the code and build it back up again. The theory is that this collaborative process encourages innovation and decreases bugs by increasing the number of people with a stake in the project.

That anyone with an Internet connection can pop open the hood doesn't mean companies that use open-source programming can't make money. Red Hat does. So do Sleepycat, Sun, and many others. Ballmer and company don't object to open source because they think it's an economic loser. They can't stomach the fact that the enterprising creator has no more control over his code than any other Joe. Not only can more than one company rake in the dough, the other guys can alter your product any way they see fit, as long as they share these upgrades with everyone else. That's where the socialism title comes in.

So, is open-source communism?