Open Source is everywhere, what do I do with it?

I am very excitied about the next generation Internet and the phenomenal amount of development going on in the Web 2.0 area. As I start to look under the covers I am seeing some interesting trends. The biggest trend that I am noticing is that there is a large amount of development that is becoming "Open Source".

To corporate America open source is both a blessing and a curse. How do you handle open source in corporate America? This is a question I am begining to grapple with a I write this post. The question is not whether corporate America should use open source software, they are already doing that. The question is how do you use open source software so that it can be tracked, managed, and maintained just like commercial software that corporate America uses today?

There are a numebr of interesting start ups that are looking at this problem, they actually look at this as a opportunity. One of the companies that I have spent some time with is Source Labs (Seattle, WA). This start up (VC is Ignition Partners) has come up with an interesting approach to maintaining open source software. SOurce Labs will do the integration testing of the software stack their customer chooses to use and then help them maintain the stack. They will then test all patches and then package them up as upgrades. It is a great concept, I hope it works.

Open Source is a huge area that will change the whole way that the industry deals with software and making money for that matter.