"[Microsoft] open source (with a slightly more restrictive license)"
Well, yeah, that's the fear. "We probably wont sue you until we think you're competing with us" is hardly 'open source' is it.

JavaFX is going to be too little, too late, as the main JRE is going to become a lot faster to load (on demand class loading for instance).

And what about OpenLaszlo ???

I follow your blog since 2 months, and you write nothing about OpenLaszlo, which is the first OpenSource RIA framework.

Hey David,

Utilizing an open source philosophy is one thing, but participation in an open source philosophy is not necessarily changing the face of that philosophy.

What we are seeing here is a race for ubiquity. Success will be found by the platform that is most capable of entrenching it's presence as far and wide as possible. In order to achieve that, you would want to advocate as much use of the platform as possible regardless of whether or not that usage is with your tools(that cost money) or not.

It is always important to see the fact that the keystone components of these platforms are not open source. The Flash Player for example is closed because if "forked" players were out there in the public, then consistency would be compromised. Consistency is the key selling point of these platforms.

So while open source frameworks and SDKs seems revolutionary, it is really just a tactic to attempt to achieve the ubiquity of a proprietary piece of software that is the core of the actual business model for these companies.

So the point I am trying to make here is that you are seeing the changed face of Adobe, Microsoft, and Sun, due to the Open Source philosophy, as opposed to the other way around. The open source philosophy has come along with the understanding that:

being one of the options (to buy from) within an ecosystem that you control, is more likely to achieve ubiquity and success than being the only option (that you must buy from), in an ecosystem you control.

The real economic battle being waged underneath that open source facade is:

Who will control the ecosystem?

Thanks for the roundup! (Can something really be open-source if only 'portions' are being opened up?)

@misterpatate - I am certainly not trying to ignore OpenLaszlo. In a lot of ways it was a predecessor to many of the current technologies (at least some of its concepts) - however, the focus of this article was more on large software companies that are trying to adopt some of the open source concepts demonstrates by projects such as OpenLaszlo.

If we see that there is a demand for OpenLaszlo articles in the future, it will certainly be covered. However, if we receive few comments or requests regarding it, it probably won't receive as much attention.

@Tony - I would agree and disagree with you. I do believe that Open Source is truly being changed by companies such as Adobe, Microsoft, and Sun. I do agree however that the OS philosophy in many ways has changed those same companies. However, evidence has been shown that companies who do business in an open source world are closely watching what these companies do, and we could see major changes on the way these companies do business based on the success (or lack thereof) of the "big 3". This does change the open source world (but not its core philosophy). However, long gone are the days when companies like RedHat and Mozilla are the only companies to "pony up" to the open source table.

Open source is great for building and when I heard that the major companies that are responsible for RIA development are going (well majority) open source, I have to admit i got excited.
With the RIA industry, open source could not have come at a better time, as it is on the brink of explosion. Having communities build different components and build on existing, allows for the fast movement into new trends and online differences that would of took double the time.

Now Microsoft going open source in my opinion looks a bit sketchy! When have they ever thought about anyone except them selfs. I reckon that if you build RIA that could rival with say Microsoft Office... Well they would backlash and say that you only had a license to use it and not to build applications to rival with the technology company that allow you access to silverlight. They would do something or have some clause to crush you. (Still have to admit though silverlight looks pretty good and will be a major contender for the RIA industry with the support base and the many developers of the MSDN)

Open source all the way!!!
Exciting times for developers and designers.