Time to Invite Linux to the Party

It is no surprise that in the nearly 20 years that Linux has been alive most commercial software vendors have not officially provided support for it.  The install base is hard to gauge and the fragmentation of that install base into dozens of distributions makes the prospect of supporting Linux daunting.  How daunting that can be when the major distributions are maintained largely by volunteers is certainly a topic worth discussing at a later time.  What is getting to me is the increase propensity for companies to use Linux but not to support Linux.  Two excellent examples of companies doing this are Amazon and Netflix.