Will 2008 Be The Year Of Open Source?

Over the last few years we've seen the rise in popularity of Open Source software solutions. As this concept has crept across the Internet, it has left the confines of geekdom and begun to gather mainstream traction. People and businesses everywhere are finally recognizing Open Source software's potential for cost savings and ease of use.

Many people I speak with offline about Open Source seem to think it is a brand, when in fact it is much more a philosophy or movement. Open Source software means that the programmers of the software have made the software source code "open" to other programmers to contribute, change or improve upon. The software is then distributed to the end user(s) for free. That is a simplified definition, but the at the heart of Open Source is the Open Source Initiative, which makes clear that it isn't enough to share the source code, you must also give the contributing programmers the right to use your code.

Web sites everywhere have popped up over the last few years to help people find Open Source solutions to their software needs. Open Source solutions to popular proprietary brands like Microsoft Office, such as Open Office and Neo Office, have continued to appear on user computers all around the world. Recently the Netherlands adopted Open Source technology as the preferred software for their government to use. For a government to deem Open Source an acceptable and cost effective alternative to proprietary software is a huge step in making Open Source practices more mainstream.

As Open Source grows by leaps and bounds, and people find it easier and easier to install and use, I predict it will over take many proprietary brands in the coming year, taking an ever increasing chunk of market share. Brands such as Adobe that operate under an oppressive licensing status and a punishingly high cost structure could find themselves slipping as Open Source solutions like Splashup become more and more mainstream.

Users that prefer the perceived comfort zone found in boxed proprietary software will ensure that the proprietary software always has a place on shelves, however small it becomes, but a revolution is coming in how people find and use software. Proprietary software makers should take note. Ideally, the Open Source movement will have a great impact on proprietary brands, causing them to rethink their terminally high price structures and the inflexible nature of their product code distribution.