Open source software and Java

Simply put, open source software often envelopes the ideas, knowledge and designs of a large group of focused IT developers. This brain-trust is often on the cutting edge of development and businesses wanting innovation can find free platforms and robust code bases offered in open source as a smart business strategy.

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) has gained steam from the success of Linux. In the beginning, it was feared that sharing source code would open systems to malicious attacks and the in ability to achieve product licensing/copyrights. Linux proved that it was possible to share source code without fear of loss of product value.

Although many products under the GNU license are reliable and can provide businesses with a lot of value, many bigger businesses avoid open source because of the lack of support. Even so, smaller businesses are giving larger organizations competition now due to the low-cost, large repositories of applications.

Traditional development companies, like Microsoft, are looking for ways to reacquire much of the market they lost when the open source revolution began. Without some type of new business model that includes sharing source code, open source developments will continue to dominate OS, Web-based solutions and business application business opportunities.

Java

Aside from Linux, Java is the other big player and a historical valuable player in the open-source world. Without Java and it’s remarkable functionality, many open-source applications would lack the functionality needed to be productive, profitable and/or useful. Object-oriented programming gives Java the ability reuse components and share data between systems – this makes Java perfect for business processes. From Java came Java Virtual Machine which works to translate codes for host environments and Java Runtime Environment which compiles data. The incorporations of Java in system development platforms makes the open-source community products appropriate for business applications.