Open source software has come of age and has been around for a long time. For many computer and technology junkies, the thought of dabling with this type of software was something unacceptable. Things have changed over the years, and even though there is still major opposition in many camps, this brand of software has had a major impact in changing our world. Many of us might be using open source without even being aware of it.
When we speak of operating systems, the first names that tend to come to mind are Microsoft Windows or OS X. There is another major role player in this field that is being used by more users everyday. The Linux operating system has become a popular alternative to the other more well-known commercial operating systems. Many of the more established flavors of Linux release upgrades of their operating system every six months.
We are living in an age where cellphones are visible wherever we go. A few years ago the cellular industry had a major new brand of phone which hit the scene. This was the smartphone. Besides all of the ordinary capabilities associated with a normal cellphone, smartphones have many features which were formerly only found in computers. Open source has even made its entrance here as well. Certain smartphone manufacturers have adopted Android as their operating system of choice, and are making major strides in this hotly contested arena.
Many of us use the internet everyday of our lives. We tend to turn to Google when we need to search for anything. Besides the search function, many people also use the many applications that are part of the Google interface. Google was developed using the languages Java and Python, and was coded on a computer using Linux as the operating system. All of these software technologies are widely used and well-known in open source circles.
The internet as we know it today is mostly because of open source software. Many of the web servers around the world are powered by Linux for various reasons.When we consider the number of websites which populate the internet, then it comes as no surprise that many of these have been developed using a multitude of open source environments.
Our technological world as we know it today has been changed in many ways by open source software. Not bad for technologies which are totally free and allows anyone to make a contribution to its development.
