Lionel Sujay Vailshery
Research expert covering the consumer electronics industry
Computer software distributed under a license that allows users to utilize, modify, and distribute the program and its source code to anyone and for any purpose are open source software. Most enterprises rely on open-source software to a large extent. It saves them time and money developing and maintaining their infrastructure, eliminating the need to start from scratch. Thus, companies continue to fuel the ever-increasing demand for professionals with skills in open-source integration while striving to enhance their digital transformation strategies.
Open-source projects
The essence of open source is the collaboration of a community in the development, testing, evaluation, and improvement of the software. It's all about learning and sharing knowledge in open source development. Developers devote considerable time and required skills towards creating, refining, and documenting a code given the potential advancement. This is what we refer to as projects in open-source development. Several popular projects have made a significant impact on society, for example, Linux, Mozilla, git, and Arduino. Another advantage for businesses using open source is that it reduces the investment costs on the infrastructure.Open-source big players
When we talk about open-source, it goes without saying that Android completely changed the landscape for the smartphone market. Because of the open-source movement on which it is built, Android has prospered in a competitive smartphone market, making Google a major player in this landscape in less than a decade. Several technologies apply open-source fundamentals that are looking to revolutionize the tech world in the coming years. Some of the key contributors in 2022 based on the open-source contributor index (OSCI) are Google, Microsoft, and Redhat.Trends from open source
In an increasingly connected world, technology never sleeps. With open-source development, new tech trends are taking shape to address some of the most critical business and societal challenges as we look towards a post-pandemic future. Here is a brief highlight of some of those trends. Blockchain technology infamous for cryptocurrencies will potentially create a base for Web 3.0, referred to as the future of the internet. Container technology is making software applications platform-independent and efficient. Cloud computing is divided into infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). They provide users with access to store and process data via the internet in a location away from them. Internet of Things (IoT) produces a large amount of data for various applications helping in decision-making on events and processes. Last but not least, machine learning as a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) allows users to develop algorithms for handling vast amounts of data. This processed data aids in data-driven decision making based on large datasets from photos, videos, human-written texts or IoT-sensors.
