Today must be cloud computing day in the open source world. In addition to this morning's announcement about Eucalyptus Systems focusing on open source cloud tools, SugarCRM has announced that it is putting an offering called Sugar Express on its Sugar Open Cloud. Sugar Open Cloud is an on-demand computing platform, and Sugar Express is an online hosted version of SugarCRM's open source customer relationship management software aimed at individuals and businesses "who need a low-cost solution,"--apparently. Comparatively, though, the cost doesn't seem to be so low. 

From the Bleak Predictions Department, ChannelInsider has a slideshow up of 12 tech companies that may not survive 2009. The list of companies comes from solution providers that ChannelInsider surveyed, and includes some surprisingly big and powerful players. It also includes two leading, public open source companies. Who made the list?

Recently we've been discussing open source tools for software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and the good fit that many people perceive there to be for open source and SaaS. As part of GigaOm's Structure 08 conference today, our sister site has an interview with Salesforce founder Parker Harris. Salesforce is proprietary, but is a stunning example of SaaS success. Also check out the Structure panel on next-generation infrastructure for new entrepeneurs, and AMR Research's thoughts on disruptive technologies and trends. Finally, check out a panel of top luminaries discussing harnessing growth online, including input from Meebo on open source.