would someone kindly clarify this paragaph, please (RH business model)

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003, Mike A. Harris wrote:

...
> The truth of the matter is, that open source software is ALWAYS 
> "free" in any definition of the word.  Even when you *pay* for 
> OSS, you have the option of obtaining it at no cost via download 
> if you desire in source code form at a bare minimum.
...

say what?  i'm not convinced.  what if i start a company and write
a completely proprietary piece of software, with license fees and
per-seat restrictions and everything?  i might decide, for better
or worse, to open source that product, and yet it would still be
proprietary and non-free.

for that matter, microsoft might decide to open source its entire
office suite.  but it still wouldn't be free.  so can you clarify
what you wrote above?

rday