Open Source comes of age

A few years back not many people would have heard of "open source" software. The computing world back then was dominated by a small handful of commercial software companies.

Nowadays, this situation has turned on its head: open source and free software now dominates the complete computing environment. From super computers running cloud applications down to smart phones and consumer devices.

A few interesting factoids:

• The two most popular social networks Facebook and Twitter are built using open source software
• The great majority of smart phones are run by a combination of three open source technologies: Linux, Android and Java
• Most websites are served by the open source Apache server
• It is now possible to use your smart phone as a complete computing environment with Ubuntu for Android. ie. A complete open source working environment powered by your phone!

And that is just a tiny selection of how open source applications are most people's experience of this connected world.

Open source rules ... ! Happy days :-)

Frazer Melton

About the author

Frazer has been involved with the professional development of database systems since the early 1990s. Following the Internet and Google "revolutions", he has be active in the development of websites for local businesses around Brigg. He also has an interest in online and offline marketing. He now plans to concentrate on his own business as an independent open source software contractor.

Email: mail@fmmc.co.uk
Web: www.fmmc.co.uk