Google moves the numbers, press panics

Bunk. Apache's share is declining because Google has switched its own servers to its own flavor of Apache -- the Google Front End server -- which makes extensive use of AJAX and server-side Java for faster page loads.

The same thing is going to happen with Linux share numbers. Google is supporting its own version of Ubuntu, dubbed Goobuntu, so Ubuntu's share will look smaller, and others will seem to "catch up."

It's important to note that this is, on the whole, a good thing. Google is big enough to handle its own open source support. This frees community resources for other projects.

But you can also expect another silly story soon, claiming that the Apache BSD license is "catching up" to the GPL. Google likes the Apache license.

So long as Google remains an active contributor of code to the projects it supports and uses, there is no loss here for the open source movement from Google doing its own laundry.

The more companies do what Google is doing, the faster open source will grow.