A ragtag group of idealistic hackers scattered round the world has created software and devised a revolutionary method for writing it that poses a direct threat to Microsoft's revenue.  Their programs are already running most of the Internet. According to a survey by the British consultancy Netcraft, the Web server software Apache is used by more than half of all websites.  Furthermore, software named Sendmail moves nearly every e-mail message across the Internet, while the BIND program acts as a traffic cop for most of the global network, directing messages down the right connections to their final destinations

The proven robustness of these programs is worry enough for Microsoft.  To make matters worse, all of them, and many others, are completely free in two senses: one does not have to pay for them, and the "source code" in which they are written is openly available. Additionally, one may modify the programs and even sell the result.

The "open source" movement is Microsoft's worst nightmare: a group of programmers that it cannot out-compete because its members are not motivated by profit, and which it cannot buy because it does not exist as a formal company.   

In the vanguard of the open source movement is Linux, started in 1991 by a 21-year-old Finn, Linus Torvalds, who wanted to write a free alternative to Unix, a popular but costly operating system. Today Linux is used by an estimated 7 million people, and the number is growing rapidly. One of Linux's advantages is that it runs on almost any hardware, from multi-processor supercomputers down to Palm Pilots. It is compact (it can fit on a floppy), highly efficient and very fast.

Torvalds did not invent the idea of software that is doubly free but he has stumbled upon and developed a crucially important Darwinian dynamic.  In a commercial software company, every program is carefully planned, and writing tasks are allotted unilaterally by the project leader. Linux is different. It is designed as a series of modules, and anyone can work on any of these interlocking elements. Whether one’s work gets included in the final release depends on the consensus view of how good it is--natural selection in action. The only reward anyone, even Torvalds, gets for this work is kudos from fellow hackers. That is enough, it seems, to attract a flow of keen recruits, typically computer science students or software engineers who code Linux on the side.

Such purposive anarchy is made possible by the Internet. Trial versions of programs can be downloaded, and comments sent back to the authors, wherever they are. Programs frequently evolve on a daily basis. With the help of the Internet, the Linux model exploits the ingenuity of hundreds of programmers and hundreds of thousands of testers. It is a pool of creativity that Microsoft, with its huge resources, will never be able to match.

1. The author mentions that a particular bit of software is included into the final release of Linux only by consensus as an example of
(A) how writing tasks are allotted unilaterally by the project leader
(B) the modularity of Linux  
(C) Linux’s unorthodox system of rewards
(D) the careful planning that goes into Linux software
(E) the process of natural selection at work in the field of computer programming

The best answer is E. The author describes the workings of Linux as having a ‘Darwinian dynamic’ – it works on the principle of natural selection.  Only the fittest software is used.  

2. It can be inferred from the passage that if Linux existed as a formal company
(A) it would be used by more than the estimated 7 million people that currently use it
(B) its software would be more costly than Unix
(C) its software would still be less costly than Unix
(D) Microsoft would try to acquire it
(E) it could compete with Microsoft  

The best answer is D. According to the passage, Microsoft cannot buy Linux because it does not exist as a formal company.   
 

3. According to the passage, programmers are motivated to create software for Linux  
I. to earn accolades
II. for pecuniary gain
III. to learn how to successfully hack software
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) I and II only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II and III

The best answer is A.  The author states that the only reward anyone gets for work on Linux is kudos, or accolades, from fellow hackers.  

4.  The passage mentions each of the following as factors contributing to the success of groups creating open source software EXCEPT
(A) the groups use the Internet to gather together hundreds of thousands of testers
(B) the groups do not exist as formal companies  
(C) the products are designed to work on Palm Pilots
(D) the groups are not motivated by profit
(E) the programs evolve frequently

The best answer is C.  The author mentions Palm Pilots only in relation to the Linux program.  No information is given on whether other open source software is versatile enough to run on Palm Pilots.