There’s been a lot of recent buzz about open-source GIS software. Good discussions can be found at James Fee’s site, plus Datum Shift as well as on Dave Bouwman’s blog.
Given all of this discussion, I found this article in Dr. Dobb’s Journal to be rather timely. It’s not about GIS software per se but it’s definitely relevant.
DDJ has undergone some changes of late but I still find it incredibly informative. That said, I still miss opening it up to find Verity Stob.