Open Source Connection... Cont'd

Remember the little "conspiracy theory" I came up with on August 19, 2005? Was about the links between the people behind ServiceMix (a CodeHaus project) and Geronimo (an Apache project). Recent news is that ServiceMix has been proposed as an incubated sub-project of Apache Geronimo: exceprt from Apache's Incubator wiki (as of today):

"Currently ServiceMix is hosted at Codehaus, has a stable codebase and a large and vibrant community.

This proposal moves the existing ServiceMix community to Apache as a sub-project of Geronimo so it can better integrate with the rest of the Geronimo and other Apache communities like Axis and Synapse and to simplify the work of the community with the TCKs."

Sounds like we are in the middle of a concentration phase on the open source ESB "market". Apparently, Apache chose the model of external growth, by attracting mature projects from other communities. For example, it happened when the OSCAR project was "taken over" by Apache. Now, it's ServiceMix's turn.

Are we seeing an emerging pattern in the open source world? A pattern of external growth? Or is it a kind of fascination for the Apache brand? Is it the symptom that we'll see, in the near future, more convergence between CodeHaus and Apache?