Building open source software has never been easier or more appealing.
And there's no other reason for that than the success open source software has experienced in the past couple of years.
With so much more open source software available in the market today, developers have access to a greater variety of source code - and thus can ensure their open source application gains traction really quickly.
But in the same way users are reminiscing on the way they did things in the open source space a decade ago, they'll be looking back on the vastly improved place they find themselves in today a decade from now, and reminisce about how challenging open source software development was.
Reaching new heights
That's because re-usable, open source code doesn't only pertain to the variety of applications available in the market any more.
It now pertains to the development tools, frameworks and supporting structures programmers and developers use to build their applications. And it takes the rapidity and cost-efficiency associated with open source software development to an entirely new level.
A single example of this in practice is the Eclipse open source community, which now consists of a number of industry heavyweights besides IBM, and is gaining massive traction in the open source world.
Developers have access to a greater variety of source code.
Muggie van Staden is MD of Obsidian Systems.
Eclipse is centred on providing those companies in the industry that build software development kits and programming environments with a common underlying set of technologies on which they can base their development environments.
On one front, this results in an environment that accelerates software that's developed from scratch - since developers can build the functionality they require through the modular nature in which Eclipse has been built, but also exploits the ability of taking their application in an entirely new direction by building a plug-in or widget that ultimately becomes part of Eclipse on its next open source release.
On another front, it results in software that's more compatible and interoperable - and by virtue of that adaptable to a number of different hardware platforms, operating systems and with minimal changes, various vertical industries.
Improvements
Looking back on where this industry was 10 years ago, it's encouraging to see how much has changed for the better.
Where the re-use of code, adherence to standards and open, collaborative nature, the open source industry embodied 10 years ago was a strong incentive for start-ups and some existing companies to enter this space, the compelling manner in which the open source environment is operating today, makes it impossible to ignore.
I honestly believe that modern technology start-ups will be doing themselves a disservice if they don't make use of the vast array of existing source code, the number of free to modify (and free to use) technologies such as Linux, and lastly, the free support structures that exist in the open source space today.
Add to that the progress being made with open source premised and open standards adherent development environments such as Eclipse and it's a no-brainer.
In fact, I would say that all things considered, open source is today, still in its infancy.
Looking forward to what the next 10 to 20 years hold in store, it's clear to me that open source will be the default mechanism for software development.
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