CNET News.com's Stephen Shankland conjectures that the ideological purity of the open-source software business is being diluted by a new era of pragmatism, as start-ups adjust to the economic slump. Shankland writes . . .

“Open-source describes a collaborative method of developing software by freely sharing programming code, with no single company owning the rights. Volunteers work on myriad open-source projects, and in many cases companies hoped to harness that talent to compete better with software titans such as Microsoft, with the Linux operating system being the most visible example.”

“On the business end, companies typically seek customers with the free software and derive revenue by selling services and support.”

“But that's proved easier said than done . . .”

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