A challenge!

I love it when Holly Ross from NTEN takes me to task for being boring and rehashing the same old conversation. :)

How will the Open Source movement respond to Open API's? Is this a major victory for the sector? Or the wrong kind of victory taking the wind out of the Open Source sails? That's the kind of "State of Open Source Software" I want to hear about.

Respond to Open APIs? Open APIs are a last dieing breath of proprietary software's effort to remain relevant. Without open source, there wouldn't be open APIs, there would be systems integrators charging you $20k to integrate your CRM and your financials.

So I agree that the open source sector can take credit for the victory that is open APIs, mash-ups and the continual reduction in the monetary value of software functionality.

But it is clear there is enough room in the "marketplace" for lots of types of innovations... open source and open APIs. The bottom line is a point that Holly makes in her post... if it isn't easy to use, it will not be used.

No matter how cool the API is.