Google's Android mobile operating system is considered open-source but when companies like Dell sell devices like the Streak they like to modify some of the features in order to improve say the user-interface or to remove some of the functionality, they are bound by the General Public Licence (GPL) which requires companies to release the details of the modifications. Dell failed to release the details and is receiving criticism from consumers. Other companies have modified Android's code to include a different user interface, like HTC's Sense which provide users of their Android phones with a much nicer looking layout then the "stock" Android OS. I have the HTC Incredible and although I do like Sense I hate to see companies remove functionality to protect profits. For instance Google released an update for the Android platform on May 2oth, but it wasn't "pushed" to the Verizon customers until September 8th, and some of the functionality was stripped and repackaged for profit. Like the Wifi Hotspot feature, for Verizon customers that want to take advantage of being able to connect up to 5 wifi enabled devices and share your internet connection FROM YOUR PHONE, you have to pay an extra fee per month. There are ways around this, like rooting your phone, which will allow you to load programs that will bypass the restrictions placed on the phone by Verizon. But the point is that Google is releasing open-source (as in FREE) technology that is being used by AT&T and Verizon to make a profit. If these old-hag telecom companies want to keep up in this open-source market, they are going to have to take a serious look at their pricing structure. Customers only want to pay for what they feel is fair, and charging customers more for basically the same thing doesn't make much sense.
Watch out for open-source development, it's the future and it's definitely here to say, If I were AT&T and Verizon I'd be shaking in my boots because their unfair profiteering is going to end.