Linux Open-source software and software that can be modified by anyone is now commonplace. It is either already an essential part of your business, or will be soon, no matter what sector you are in, be it manufacturing, data, retail or services.
It is increasingly common for businesses to utilize open-source software, without even being aware of it. This type of software is often relied on for launching businesses and is a necessity for staying competitive in the current market. Linux is an essential element when it comes to open-source software, and many companies struggle to run efficiently without it.
What exactly is the significance of Linux and open-source software for your business? Hmm, let’s find out.
Pardon My Punctuation, But I Have To
Open-source software, such as Linux, has long been recognized as a key contributor to the cloud. It is estimated that 60% of images hosted on Microsoft’s own Azure platform are powered by the open-source Linux operating system. This is a remarkable achievement for Microsoft, considering the open-source origins of Azure.
Clouds are seeing an increasing number of Linux images being sent to them, which speaks to the importance of Linux and open-source software in powering the cloud. Google, in particular, heavily relies on open-source software to run their many services and makes some of their own software available for free online, such as TensorFlow. Various of Google’s open-source projects can be accessed for viewing.
Multiple Layers of Software
Almost all software stacks utilize open-source software, making it rare to find a stack that is solely composed of proprietary programs. It is highly likely that your organization will come to rely on open-source software due to the abundance of software stacks available. Open-source software is the foundation of virtually every stack, from the LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) stack to a frontend stack of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to a backend stack of Python, Django, NGINX, and MySQL.
Languages in Development
It may be surprising to discover the range of open-source programming languages available. Popular programming languages include JavaScript, Python, PHP, Swift, R, C++, Go and Kotlin, all of which are free to access and use. As such, your business can use open-source development for creating web apps, mobile applications, front-end applications and back-end services.
Containers
Containers Container technology is becoming increasingly popular in the present day. While large businesses are the main beneficiaries of this technology, medium-sized businesses can also take advantage of its highly accessible, scalable and portable services and applications, thanks to its deployment in a clustered environment. Both macOS and Windows support container development, however, to deploy containers at scale, Linux is the most popular platform. The technology to design, deploy and manage containers is open-source, thus, if a company wants to use either Docker or Kubernetes, they must adopt the open-source operating system.
Learning Machines/Artificial Intelligence
AI The impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) on the corporate sector has been significant. With various applications available, companies are increasingly finding it almost inevitable to incorporate AI and ML into their operations. When it comes to data, AI and ML are often used to mine and analyze large datasets, detect trends, and more. Moreover, agile development processes, where AI is often employed, are regularly used in software development lifecycles. Finally, if a company wishes to make the transition to a CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) environment, incorporating AI into the development process at some stage is likely to be necessary.
It is not unexpected that many of the tools utilized in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) (e.g., TensorFlow) are available for free to the public. Additionally, the most popular programming languages for AI/ML (e.g., Python) are open for everyone to use.
Databases of Massive Size
The Big Data arena presents an abundance of potential; however, this can only be achieved by embracing open-source software. Technologies such as Hadoop, Apache Spark, Cassandra, MongoDB, HPCC, Apache Storm, Apache SAMOA, and Elastic Search are integral to managing large datasets. To efficiently manipulate data lakes and warehouses, open-source software is essential.
Simply put, Big Data is a phenomenon that is not going away anytime soon. Major organizations worldwide are heavily reliant on large data warehouses, and many open-source software solutions are available to the public to process and visualize this data. Examples of such software include Grafana, Redash, D3 and Google Charts.
Conclusion
Many of the technologies that people use on a daily basis are enabled by the open-source model. Popular platforms such as Google Drive and social media services like Facebook and Twitter rely heavily on open-source software and Linux to function.
The issue today is what role, if any, Linux and open source will play in the future of your business.
