What do Wal-Mart and open-source software have in common?

read at Salon.com:
"The 451 Group, a market intelligence consultancy that proudly distinguishes itself from its 'pay-for-play-propaganda' competitors, predicts that 2009 will be a big year for open-source software merger and acquisition activity. (DealBook has the tip.)

The reasoning goes something like this: In a down economy, software users are going to seek the low-price alternative, just as retail consumers flock to Wal-Mart. So established software companies will be looking to snap up likely suspects.

The expectation is not that customers will divert funds previously allocated to proprietary projects toward open source software but that significant project spending will be delayed while open source becomes even more attractive for smaller, skunkworks-style projects."