10 Things The Open Source Community Got Right In 2013

Jack Wallen | Techrepublic | December 24, 2013

The year 2013 was one of the best years for open source in recent memory. It seemed like every month of the year brought yet another announcement either by or for the community that celebrates all things Linux and open source. From gaming to massive, national adoption, open source might well have enjoyed its most diverse line of successes since the platform was born. Does this mean Linux has finally made its way to mass acceptance? The answer is that it's very, very close. Let's take a look at the 2013 successes before we draw our final conclusion.

1. Android continues to reign supreme in the mobile space

The U.S. smartphone sales in 2013 looked like this: iOS 43.5 % vs. Android 51.2 % (other 5.3 %). Considering that Apple released iOS 7 along with the iPhone 5C and 5S -- the fact that Android outsold Apple devices in 2013 is seriously impressive. 2013 also saw some major improvements to Android performance and usability, along with the release of some of the most powerful smartphones on the market, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One.