Like all wise people, my colleague Charles Babcock knows well what he doesn't know. In the many weeks he researched his recent article, in which he explores what happens after open source companies get acquired, he often would remind me we're in uncharted waters with this trend and don't know just how it will play out.That's what makes this article vital reading. Babcock spotlights how the risks and benefits to a business IT user are different when the company behind an open source product they're using gets acquired, compared with the acquisition of a conventional software startup. The open source model is more important than ever to business IT teams, and software vendors are snapping up open source companies as a result. That brings benefits, but also risks tensions with developers and users.

In looking at the new risks, benefits, and partnerships these deals create, none's more interesting than what's happening around Xen. The open source hypervisor, a key link in server virtualization, was at the center of Citrix's $500 million deal for XenSource. Now XenSource, as part of Citrix, is closely partnered with Microsoft and pushing proprietary products, while rivals Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Oracle, and Sun build their own proprietary options around the Xen code.

It's a new world, with new risks. Babcock's articles point to what to watch for. We hope you'll read it, and share your own wisdom of where we're headed.