While some claim that Microsoft provides value for money, FOSS activists have always denied it. Suites and programs like Open Office and GIMP have often been compared to MS Office and Adobe Photoshop, on various grounds. That includes price.
The Linux Netbooks are cheap, simple and small -- just apt for performing the basic tasks. The future for this next wave of personal technology gadgets is simple as it doesn't burn a hole in your pocket and has portability advantages.
At FOSS, the focus is more on the protection of information than the methodology used to implement it. Several codes are made and rectified in the public and it thus increases the knowledge of all the users worldwide.
Differentiate your products from your competitors and be sure to earn more revenues. Remember, it is the software support that will yield returns in the future and not the base code as it has been in the past.