Apps: The rumored partnership between Google and Salesforce.com “could have far more significance than simply sharing and exchanging mashups,” writes Eprhaim Schwartz in Google, Salesforce may make software history. The imprimatur of Salesforce’s application with Google “may start as a ripple, but I predict it will end up as a tsunami that could, one day, wash away the largest software company of all time.” It’s only conjecture at this point, though. From the feature well: Microsoft’s patent claims over Linux are not the only threat to open source. “An accurate understanding of the relationship between open source code and intellectual property can help IT practitioners become better advocates for open source within their organizations,” explains Neil McAllister in How risky is open source? Facts to understand include who owns the code, trademarks, patent issues. “Actual risk is impossible to measure, but probably minimal.” Best of the blogs: Reporting live from Interop in Las Vegas, Oliver Rist is “wading through carnage caused by dozens of SEs given free reign to setup the latest equipment, management software and geek toys,” he writes in SMB IT. The vendors, meanwhile, are “making loads of announcements and bombarding my inbox with them.” Technology Industry