hi tony,

thanks for the comment. a few points:

1. you're right, i shouldnt lump you in with kickapps and ning. what i was really thinking is that it's a software as services development culture, which i think is different than an open source development culture.

2. with that in mind, i'd definitely vote for you creating an open source platform. i think developers will really love that as it gives them total freedom. as it becomes clear that the platforms need to compete for the development community, i think open source platforms will be a natural result of this competitive dynamic. this will help developers build their own business by creating their own niche platform. more importantly, in my opinion, it will create an opportunity for "remixers" -- people who remix contributions from your development community to create their own platform.

i emailed you some thoughts as well.