Hopefully everyone will see the humor and irony of this post. I was visiting Dries Buytaert's blog this afternoon and then visited CNET's News page. What I observed this afternoon from those sites is either coincidence or ruthless strategic planning from the open-source community.

Buytaert posted on his blog about a recent interview he did as project leader of the Drupal CMS for a Belgian business magazine. Evidently the article paints a picture that Buytaert is the "anti-Bill Gates". Buytaert, through his post, indicates that he isn't too comfortable with the magazine's perception of him being anti-Microsoft.

The irony is that CNET reports that Bill Gates is stepping down from his full-time role at Microsoft, the company Gates founded. The article indicates that Gates is leaving Microsoft to use the time to pursue charity work:

Gates explained that he has been working part-time for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and full-time for a company that has made him the richest man in the word, and he wished to reverse those priorities.

Say what you will about Bill Gates, but I'm impressed. It is always nice to see in this world leaders willing to step down from positions of economic power to spend more time helping others.

While our story should end there, one has to wonder if the "anti-Bill Gates" had something to do with Gates retiring. Could it be that Dries Buytaert's work with Drupal has done something that no other man or woman has done before him? Think about all the articles that you've read about Apple's Steve Jobs or Sun's Scott McNealy. When those articles were published, did Bill Gates suddenly announce his retirement? No, not at all. (In fact I hold Steve Jobs fully responsible in egging Microsoft along that Gates had no choice but to release the Windows ME edition out to market.) Bill Gates was ready for war back then and ready to fight off Apple and Sun.

However, after a little article about Drupal's Dries Buytaert arrives on magazine shelves...Bill gates announces a special press conference. Maybe the Buytaert article is just coincidence. Then again, maybe Drupal and its leaders along with the open-source community are more ruthless than anyone envisioned. Only time will tell. One thing is for certain though...the world of IT is changing quickly. You better buckle up in your seat and hold on...