Is open-source still a grassroots social movement made up of idealistic underdogs trying to revolutionize an amoral industry? Or has it become a cloak used by IT vendors large and small to disguise ruthless and self-serving behavior?
Some observers argue it's the latter. Despite occasional protests from oldtimers -- the heated backlash against the Microsoft-Novell détente, for example -- open-source has become so co-opted by mainstream IT, so transformed by "accidental open-sourcers" simply looking for a better business model, that it's lost its cherished moral edge.