I guess no idea is too good to copy. This summer, Ximian, a Boston company that supplies Linux-based desktop software, announced the Mono Project, which apes Microsoft .NET's software as a service strategy. The software will suspiciously copy the Microsoft product's functionality and offer it in a less usable form to people who use Linux desktops. If I know the Linux market like I think I do, Mono will be free, with Ximian presumably making money through volume. But seriously, folks, when you finish copying Microsoft COM, Outlook, Word, and Internet Explorer (IE) for Linux, why not pull your head out of the sand and realize that the Windows world moved on a long time ago? Projects such as Mono make Linux feel like a half-baked Windows imitator, when it could be so much more.