Open Source Has Changed Everything

Samuel Greengard | CIO Insight | February 21, 2014

In today's world of increasingly connected homes, connected machines and connected devices, any IT leader who can't grasp an open source mindset is doomed to fail.

A quarter century ago, before pervasive computer networks and mobility burst into the mainstream, every product—automobiles, refrigerators, typewriters and telephones—was proprietary. There was very little need to collaborate with any other company on basic design and engineering—unless it was a supplier.

But a quiet revolution that began in earnest in 1991, when Linus Torvalds released the first version of Linux, has sent ripples—perhaps tsunami is a better choice of words—throughout the business world…and beyond. The open source concept has fundamentally rewired the way businesses operate and the way they develop products. Platforms such as Linux, Java and Apache Hadoop have turned things upside down and inside out.