Nokia has learnt at least one lesson from the broader technology industry in recent years: as open-source software makes inroads into new markets, the best defensive move from existing market participants is often to respond in kind, and to move early, writes Richard Waters in San Francisco .

Sun Microsystems, the server maker, remains the biggest casualty from the Linux revolution. It clung to its "closed" server operating system, Solaris, long after Linux started to make inroads into the server market.