As is the case with any technology, disruption and continuous innovation are always a hallmark. So when it comes to open source, this holds true. In this post, we look at key trends that will affect open source software in 2018.
XAAS
In the past two decades, we have had Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The concept of service business model has risen in popularity. Today, industry folks simply call it Anything-as-a-Service (XaaS). Anything can be provided as a service over the internet today, be it storage, security or hardware. And this will have an impact on Open Source.
Cloud integration
Google and Microsoft started it, Amazon brought it to a whole new level. The domain of cloud storage is growing at monstrous rates annually. It is the concept of market widening that we discussed in another post. Everyone is benefitting from this. With this, the PaaS adoption is picking up and open source projects assisting that adoption.
The rise of OpenStack
Essentially, OpenStack is a Cloud Operating System that allows for the processing, storage and computation of huge volumes of data through a dashboard that is designed to be extremely user-friendly. Today’s cloud computing applications are being built on this. While its complexity has hindered a mass adoption, expect that to change in 2018 and further ahead.
Containerization
Containerization is a method wherein you run diverse and multiple applications on a single Operating system (host). With this, the need for launching a Virtual Machine for each application is eliminated. You may have heard of Docker, perhaps the best in this field so far. The trend of containerization is expected to pick up with simplicity and efficiency the mottos of software development today.
With such trends and many more in the air, open source platforms are expected to be even more user-friendly. We haven’t remotely seen the potential of the internet fulfilled, and we are about to witness it through such trend adoption. Indeed, Bell Laboratories and Linux should be proud of their contribution to the internet’s global rise.