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  1. Open Source Software: A Special Report (1 messages)

    Special Report Contents
    Open source SOA
    Open source testing and QA
    Open source and Microsoft
    Open source video

    The open source movement has changed the course of modern software
    development. Certainly, Linux has been the most prominent example so far, but
    there is far more to come. Open source continues to infiltrate mainstream
    development at an ever faster pace. As that happens, the rules change too.

    Open source Eclipse tools overturned the IDE business. Open source frameworks
    helped drive Ajax. Open source unit testers are now par for the course. In the
    form of Hibernate and Spring, open source has challenged the conventional
    application server stack. Open source has penetrated the mysterious world of BPM
    in the form of BPEL and various rules engines. Open source software is on the
    evaluation list for more and more messaging and enterprise service bus projects.

    But open source in these enterprise instances continues to take on something
    of the tenor of established commercial software. That is not simply because such
    key software as Eclipse, JBoss, Spring and Hibernate are backed by large and
    established software companies. It is also because enterprise software is real
    work, and some commercial reward seems needed if any software is going to
    continually be shepherded forward.

    The Apache Foundation and the Eclipse Foundation have set the tone;
    enterprise open source today is very much a mix of independent developers and
    commercial developers (often doing the work on their employer's dime). A lot of
    the same familiar risks apply. Picking the wrong software can leave you out on
    the limb.

    What is the future of open source software? We can anticipate a swing from
    large, commercially influenced projects back to smaller grass roots projects.
    When these grass roots projects have mass market potential, we will probably see
    a bit of a swing back to the larger scale, commercially friendly end of the
    spectrum.

    Contents
    Open source SOA
    Open source testing and QA
    Open source and Microsoft
    Open source video

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  2. Open Source Software: A Special Report[ Go to top ]

    The video interviews were quite interesting. As for enterprise business software lagging behind in the open source world, there are other factors that have an impact. Let's not forget that eventually, coding is done by programmers. An being one of them, I find much more fun to contribute to a project that is an operating system, an application server or framework, or just some useful programming tools that I'd like to have myself. If I'm doing this for free, I should have fun.


    What would you find more interesting, to write a caching algorithm or some piece of business logic for an accounting package? No wonder that open source for accounting, CRM or billing is driven by companies, rather than by a group of enthusiastic developers.


    It will get there. There are already good options for CRM, ERP, billing, etc that are, at least, partially open source. But the path is different. Open source for the enterprise is more a form of marketing, with code done mostly by paid employees, rather than the result of programmers writing code from home just for fun.


    Cheers,


    E.Conde

    Lead Developer

    jBilling – Open source billing  

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