in 2010 we saw open source pervade every area of software, and it became particularly evident in the strategies of web giants like Facebook and Google.\n\nFor such companies, open source wasn't a business model, per se. Instead, it became an essential element of a great variety of business models, each baking in open-source complements to drive some form of proprietary value elsewhere. 2010 was the year that open source ceased to be a competitive differentiator for vendors and instead became standard operating procedure for everyone...even Microsoft (though still to a small extent for the Redmond giant).