I think that a solid Open Source strategy is an important way for companies to do business these days. It is a key way that vendors can get their solution out to the market and give back to the industry. It is also a great way to compete in a competitive market. I have seen the positive impact Open Source can have in a market firsthand as we've proven the success of such a strategy with the Script Start Community version of our user profile management solution (disclosure: I also work for Entrigue, the company that makes Script Start).
Shameless plug aside (and I'll keep them to a minimum), Open Source is here to stay and I am glad that Citrix did not shy away from the community or strategy when they evolved Xen into their commercial product line.
To prove Xen as Open Source is alive and well, here is an update of what's going on with Xen Open Source according to xen.org.
Activities in Q1 2008:• The Xen Project Advisory Board is releasing the new Xen® trademark policy in Q1 2008• Active Xen Community Projects • The next Xen release 3.2 is available as of January 16, 2008• A new Xen.org Community Blog• Xen Summit 2008 - June 23 - 24 in Boston, MA• Xen 3.3 initial roadmap available for comment here• A full time Xen.org program manager is in place to support the growth and success of this open source project• Join Ian Pratt at FOSDEM '08 in Brussels, Belgium (Feb 23 - 24)• Xen 3.1.3 is available as of February 4, 2008• Search the entire history of Xen Mailing Lists• The Xen.org website is in review for re-design and update to better support the community of users and developersWhat do you think? Are you planning on running any of your Xen installs on the Open Source version? Comment back using the fields below.