Few will dispute that Linux came of age in the past year. As in the past, enthusiasts have continued to load Linux on their PCs and laptops and hack software in their basements and on unused portions of systems at their jobs. More recently, however, traditional software companies have begun porting products and programs to Linux, and the operating system has made even deeper advances in the Web server market, as well as in supercomputing clusters and application server environments. But despite all this progress, the idea of a truly open-standard platform for mission critical needs in the enterprise remains a hot debate. There are many who believe that the community needs the kind of strong, centralized support system for innovation and development that traditional proprietary software has long enjoyed.
Few will dispute that Linux came of age in the past year. As in the past, enthusiasts have continued to load Linux on their PCs and laptops and hack software in their basements and on unused portions of systems at their jobs. More recently, however, traditional software companies have begun porting products and programs to Linux, and the operating system has made even deeper advances in the Web server market, as well as in supercomputing clusters and application server environments. But despite all this progress, the idea of a truly open-standard platform for mission critical needs in the enterprise remains a hot debate. There are many who believe that the community needs the kind of strong, centralized support system for innovation and development that traditional proprietary software has long enjoyed.
In January, a group of industry players came together to create an initiative designed to provide that support system. The Open Source Development Lab (OSDL) represents the industry’s first independent, non-profit lab designed for developers interested in adding new business-oriented capabilities to Linux. The lab is the first of its kind, one where technology leaders from competing companies put business differences aside to create a true testing ground for programs and applications that will usher in a generation of open-standards-based enterprise technology. This effort is designed to build on the energy and coordination pioneered by the existing open-source culture, community, and process.
Those of us…
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