like you point out yourself, the GNU/Linux business model isn't quite that obvious. but, let's say a customer buying an IBM System p decides to run GNU/Linux on it. did IBM make money thanks to GNU/Linux? wouldn't IBM have made even MORE money, had the customer dumbly bought an AIX license (IBM's Unix) and went on renewing the license for the system's lifetime? this being said, NOKIA is becoming a hardware company too since they are letting Symbian run out and have more or less pulled out of active GNU/Linux development. does NOKIA's contribution to GNU/Linux help them sell more devices?