There’s been a lot of talk recently about open source acquisitions and today has proven no different. Just two weeks after Sun Microsystems gobbled up MySQL, SpringSource, an open source enterprise application player, acquired Covalent Technologies for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition brings together two open source market leaders and addresses widespread demand for a simplified application infrastructure based on the Spring Portfolio and Apache projects such as the Apache Tomcat application server. Through the acquisition, SpringSource plans to offer a single source of products and services to develop and run enterprise applications using the Spring Portfolio and Apache projects.

While some of recently claimed that the acquisition of so many open source players has spelled doom for the market, I disagree. SpringSource CEO Rod Johnson was spot on when stated that there are two courses for open source companies to follow: either get acquired by a large company or construct an independent business to build critical mass and become a leader in your own right. Acquisitions equal market maturity, and enterprises are moving to open source not just because of cost consideration but because these products give customers what they want. The M&A activity of the past few weeks are proof of that.