An Open-Source Lightning Rod

One weekend back in December, Marc Fleury was hunched over his computer, absorbed in writing a fervent, almost preachy and completely self-serving blog about why IBM (IBM ) and BEA Systems Inc. (BEAS ) will never be able to best his tiny but growing open-source company, JBoss Inc. His 6-year-old daughter walked up to him and asked: "Daddy, why are you still working on a Sunday? Is IBM still after you?" He laughed and replied: "Yes, darling...but now a whole industry is ganging up on us."

That's life in the Fleury household. The entrepreneur's favorite movie is The Matrix because, like its protagonist, Neo, he has long fancied himself working a boring day job and then saving the world at night. Fleury's company, JBoss, is a key player in the booming open-source movement that's shaking up every software company from Microsoft (MSFT ) to Oracle (ORCL ) to IBM, forcing them all to change their strategies or to collaborate with younger, faster-moving competitors that develop "open" software, distribute it freely on the Net, and make money by providing support and training for it. When JBoss took in venture capital in 2004, it was valued at $200 million, and those close to the company say Fleury and his family own nearly 50%.