I received Gartner e-mail this week marketing their up-coming open-source summit. The message contains gems that illuminate Gartner's perspective on open source and the larger IT world.

A not-so-alarmist post pointing to news about attempts to embrace and extend "Open Source" (mostly by Microsoft)

Gartner, Black Duck, SAP and other friends of Microsoft encircle Free/open source software for interjection and distortion of the basic terms

In a few years' time, almost all businesses will use open source, according to Gartner; even though IT managers may be unaware of it, and prefer to talk about fashions such as software as a service.

A few remarks about Microsoft "Oxite" and a video about "embrace, extend, and extinguish" (EEE)

Here are two small, but significant moves by Microsoft.
First, the Microsoft Web Installer is making it easier to run open source apps on Windows Server ..........

Microsoft-tied entities brushing shoulders amongst people in the Free(dom) software world

Gartner has made 10 technology predictions for the next few years, and in the analyst firm's view, life has never been better for open source. Among the predictions: Apple will double its market share by 2011 and software-as-service will account for at least one-third of all business software spending by 2012.

Matt Asay at CNET directs readers to Glyn Moody's take on the Gartner Group's findings that 85% of enterprises are using open source software.