Try doing this with proprietary software
I've written before about the huge opportunity that open source presents for EAI (enterprise application integration). Open source doesn't require lawyers to meet before integrating products. It's a question of code, not counsel.
Today I get to see it happening to me or, rather, to my project, Alfresco. Jeff Potts, a third-party consultant employed by Optaros (and a hard-core Alfresco expert), decided to integrate Alfresco with Ringside Network's social networking platform, while Rob Purdie announced the integration of Alfresco with Drupal's excellent web content management system for Amnesty International.
The common thread running between both? Alfresco, the company, wasn't involved in either.
That's open source. The code comes before company, with all the inertia, legalese, etc. that accompanies the company. In open source, the developer comes first. Well, actually, the "itch" comes first. Then the developer to scratch it.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
markg
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