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So far it has only been shown that he spent the money. Personally, there is not a doubt on my mind that he will open source the books and I really don't understand why kragen doubt's it, but logically, he is right that Gates might still decide not to 'open source' (a strange term for books?) them.

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What if they will only be available under DRM/proprietary format?

Philosophically he doesn't seem to be down with the free-culture ideals. So it wouldn't surprise me if he made them "available" to the public — but only, say, that segment of the public that was running Windows 7, with technical and contractual prohibitions on copying or excerpting.

From what I understand of Mr Gates, when it comes to his business he's as mean a motherfucker as you can get in a room with.

When it comes to everything else, he's a decent fellow.

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