Could Microsoft acquire an open source software vendor? Yes, is the answer, according to Steve Ballmer’s comments from the Web 2.0 Summit. However, I think there’s some reading between the lines to be done here. Microsoft could certainly buy an open source user, but at this stage an open source software vendor might be a step too far.

Here’s what Ballmer had to say, according to CNET:

“We will buy smaller companies. We will buy smaller companies that make some use of open source software,” he said. “We don’t want to discourage people who would talk with us just because they do some open source.”

It’s worth considering that Ballmer was speaking at a Web 2.0 event. As CRN points out, his comment is “a tacit acknowledgment of how thoroughly open-source …