It started small. A faint grumble here. A clenched-teeth comment there. Then came the accusations. Google is abandoning Firefox! Google is unfairly exploiting its position! Google is ... acting like Microsoft!

In a way, this is all understandable. Google has long been a patron saint in the eyes of the FOSS crowd, an 800 lb. gorilla of open source political correctness that would forever counter the evil Redmondian machinations. So for the wunderkinds to betray the FOSS community by producing their own Firefox competitor -- even one being pimped-out as open source -- is simply unforgivable.

Firefox is the sacred cow of FOSS, a shining example of all that's good and clean and right in the world of the cyber-hippy, free-love-and-code crowd. Never mind that it has more bugs than a Peruvian rain forest and leaks memory faster than a New Orleans levee. The holy Firefox is pure! Its pedigree unsullied by corporate taint! How dare they blaspheme so!

Sadly, the FOSS folks are missing the point. Far from a betrayal, Chrome represents the best possible future for open source developers everywhere. What Google has delivered is a giant-slayer, a self-contained WebOS that could one day supplant Microsoft's desktop hegemony. Chrome is the ultimate end-run -- around Windows, Win32/.Net, the whole entrenched ecosystem.

With Chrome, FOSS Web developers can finally deliver applications that approach the functionality and runtime fidelity of native code, leveraging the new browser's robust process model and highly optimized JavaScript engine to isolate and accelerate these next-generation Rich Internet Applications (RIA).

Given the lackluster state of FOSS desktop software (it sucks), such a paradigm shift might actually be a good thing. Why waste time with yesterday's clunky widget toolkits when you can leverage cool, next-generation technologies -- such as AJAX and Google Gears -- to power your write-once-run-anywhere FOSS projects?

Let's face it: Firefox, for all its accolades, is old technology. Single process design? Plug-ins running amok? It's all so 2007. Chrome gives FOSS Web developers what they've been craving: A robust, stable platform that lets them push the limits of RIA design while leaving the old development paradigms behind.

This is the future of FOSS, a future where Chrome becomes the OS and Linux is relegated to its rightful place as a glorified boot loader. You know that's where they're headed. You know that's Google's master plan. The wunderkinds envision a world where the OS is irrelevant, where everything revolves around their pumped-up browser and advertising-laced SaaS offerings.

It's a beautiful vision of a glorious future. It's time for the FOSS community to stop resisting, to heap the broken carcass of Firefox upon the sacrificial flames and embrace your new-found savior! He's new! He's shiny! He's ... Chrome!

Note: Of course, the above assumes Google actually ships a version of Chrome for Linux. Until then, well ... all bets are off!