Tue
Jan 23
2007
Survey: Three Most Important Open Source Projects
by Nat Torkington | @gnat | comments: 224
I have a theory and I need numbers to prove or disprove it. If you use open source, please tell me in the comments what you think are the three most important open source projects going today. I'll post my hypothesis, the numbers, and my conclusion next week. Thanks!
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Comments: 224
Firefox - brought FLOSS mainstream
Linux - proved that regulation is not needed for something as complex as an OS
Wikipedia - innovative approach to FLOSS and incredibly popular
Three most important open source projects?
SQLite (making data storage and retrieval brain-dead-simple)
Lucene (making text indexing and search brain-dead-simple)
Subversion (and its open-source source-control brethren)
These are the three open-source packages that make writing other open-source packages possible.
OLPC - because, well, you know why...
Ubuntu - because, rightly or wrongly, it seems to have picked up the reputation of 'Linux for the rest of us'...
Python - because Python is cool...
This sounds like my question to the LCA speakers' panel :-)
Important to me...
Linux
PostgreSQL
Ruby
Important for open source to gain traction in the greater world..
Firefox
Ubuntu
OpenOffice
Audacity (free speech via mp3)
Asterisk (free speech via telephony)
CAMBIA (biotechnology)
Okay, this is an easy one:
1) GNU/Linux
2) Apache HTTP Server
3) Mozilla Firefox
No fair - impossible question.
How well would linux have developed without gcc, binutils, cvs, svn? Or put differently, although paid versions of all of these things exist, without them, it is doubtful that many of these wonderful apps/OSes would exist.
Free efffective tools enabled masses of developers to well...develop.
Linux
GNU
Mozilla Firefox
But there are more essential products, for example, OpenOffice.org, Apache, PHP, MySQL.
1. parrot - once done and embedded in Firefox and PostgreSQL he world will change. (maybe)
2. Firefox/Moz
3. Second Life client
1. Linux (before it was GNU/Linux even)
2. Apache
3. sendmail
These projects have allowed so much more to happen because they existed and did well. They opened doors and created whole new markets. I'd like to fit bind in there somehow as well.
If I was allowed to keep going perl would be next. Of course firefox and the database kids (mysql, postgres, sqlite, bdb, etc) should all get a hat tip. Tomcat is very important now as well.
I'll cheat and answer twice, because I previously focused on what I thought the 3 more important projects were for all time. The three that I use today would have to be:
1. "Linux" (we happen to use RHEL, but you get the idea)
2. uPortal (open source portal designed and developed by higher education)
3. tomcat
If I was allowed to keep going:
4. CAS (ticket-based single sign-on for web apps)
5. Apache HTTPD
6. ruby
7. perl
8. mysql
I go with Ubuntu, Firefox, Nutch -- each for their potential power to break (or at least check) monopolies in core technologies of the information economy.
Apache is close, but in a way has graduated -- its success so secure, its importance has waned. Same with the Linux kernel.
The initial post didn't specify 'software' -- just 'project'. So Wikipedia merits consideration. But for all its wonders, Wikipedia is more the signifier of trends than cause of them. If it were to disappear, mass collaboration and open content would lose its top poster child, but still ultimately thrive.
1. Linux - key piece of many future computing devices and clusters
2. WebKit - most lightweight browser engine that can bring about the mobile internet revolution
3. Python - used by Google and NASA
Nat is actually asking for the 3 most important Open Source projects - not the ones that are being used the most. How do you define importance?
Here's mine:
1. Apache HTTPD (important for the expansion of the Web and the many services that run on top)
2. MySQL (important for showing that Open Source can redefine "important" software for enterprises and in so doing bridge the divide between "hackers" and "suits". Linux comes in a close second here.
3. Wikipedia (important for redifining "open source" itself in that it can apply to a lot more than just software).
Open Source isn't a method of writing software - it's a way of thinking.
Hmm... I wasn't sure until I started reading the comments...
Definitely #1 in my mind is Firefox. It's something that a non-technical person can use and appreciate (unlike Linux, or Asterisk), and it's cross-platform.
Apache is the mainstay - it's everywhere, but it doesn't get anywhere near the publicity of Firefox, or Linux, or even OpenOffice... I don't think either of those reasons detract from its importance, though, so I'll make that my #3.
#2 - I'm only making the decision as I'm typing, but I'm going with Wikipedia, as others have. Open source knowledge is an idea I really like.
As Matthew above touched the question there is a lot of ambiguity on what constitutes importance. Most past impact? Most impact today? Most impact in teh future? Most directly affected people?
Going on mot impact overall, I think these would be it:
1) linux kernel - most impact overall
2) gnu toolchain - most impact overall
3) Firefox - with a bit of a forecast on future impact as well.
While Apache and Mysql certainly have had an important impact, IMHO it has been more limited in scope, i.e. in terms of "width" and "time". Alternatives to them have been around long and are at least as good if not better substitutes.
Moodle is becoming a powerful wedge for OS into education.
Other two more general: Linux and Apache
Linux
Apache
Firefox
I wish I could say rails. Though it's great and it's the tool which I have the most proffit from at the moment. In the history of open source it's not as important yet.
Hmm,
Linux (cos you use it to run open source projects)
Eclipse (cos you use it to write open source projects)
Apache (because they incubate open source projects)
I'm really surprised that no one has mentioned has bind. DNS is vital to virtually everything.
So here's my list, fudging a bit on the limit of 3 and I'm not 100% on the order:
- Bind
- Sendmail/Postfix
- Linux/FreeBSD
- MySQL/PostgreSQL
- Firefox
- GCC
Generally:
- Apache
- Firefox
- OpenSSH
Also to mention (as important for my work):
- OpenBSD
- Python
- x.org
Only 3? Makes it hard not to state the obvious so I'll throw a couple in from left field.
OpenID. Single signon and authentication for the rest of us.
RockBox. Creating a genre of open source firmware to save us from proprietary hardware.
hmm, tricky...
1. Apache... foundation of the web
2. gnu tools... made open source possible
3. Firefox... gathered popularity
Most important ? What's important ?
1) Samba - interoperability
2) Linux - showed that large OSS projects work as good (if not better) than projects that build proprietary products.
3) Firefox - most people's first knowledge and use of open source software.
Firefox
Blogshere - wordpress(allowing us to talk about this stuff)
nothing else comes close
Take that further. The most important area of open source development is open source firmware.
- Rockbox and iPodLinux
- Linksys Linux, WRT54G and NSLU-2
- Linux Bios project
- The open Wifi driver projects
And arguably things like
- Asterix
- MythTV
As this is very much in the spirit of Make and Radar, O'Reilly ought to do a conference on Open Source Firmware and Hardware.
Drupal - application platform
Mapserver - spatial platform
Asterisk - telephony platform
openoffice
firefox
gcc
O.S. are commodities;
server-side stuff is hidden away in a closet somewhere;
portable applications are the key.
Sendmail (email was once the killer app)
Apache (but these days its the web)
Asterisk (and OSS is poised to turn telephony upside down, too)
Has to be Firefox, OpenOffice and Rails.
Firefox because it is an open standards-compliant web browser that has changed the way even Microsoft thinks about building IE. It is also platform independent and 'mainstream'.
OpenOffice because it has the potential to change mainstream user's perceptions of open source, lower costs within organisations that use it, and show that free software can be useful software.
Rails because it allows for very rapid production of applications. The time between conception of an idea and production of a deployed codebase has been reduced massively as a result, and if you look at all the other frameworks out there, they're now trying to follow in the wake by taking a similar philosophy regardless of which language they're written in.
The idea that Linux or Apache are important baffles me. Most people don't care about the platform, they don't care about the underbelly, they care about getting things done and the tools that allow them to do that the most effectively. People don't care if the web page they're viewing is on Apache or IIS. They don't care if their files are on a Windows machine or a Linux machine.
Computers are there to do things, users care about doing things, so you need to think about applications where users get to do stuff. Only self-absorbed geeks like us think Linux and Apache and MySQL are important - the real players are the desktop applications.
This is tricky, and hinges on what the word "important" means. If important means "important to moving open source into the mainstream)
- Ubuntu (specifically Ubuntu Studio - since people expect multimedia out of the box, anything else is a step back to the 20th century...)
- Open Office
- Firefox
It was a hard toss up there between choosing between Ubuntu & VLC. However, since I expect VLC to be included in Ubuntu Studio (it'd be a major ommission if it isn't).
If however we mean important, as in important to humanity, then my list changes.
- Globus Toolkit - since this powers many of the major GRID computing systems out there, a number of which are looking at global warming - in all likelihood the biggest challenge facing humanity over the next 100 years.
- Wikipedia (OK, it's not code so perhaps excluded - in which case I choose wikimedia instead - but it is probably the largest single repository of knowledge. Snapshotting wikipedia to a collection of books buyable from lulu strikes me as incredibly important if the former doesn't succeed...)
- GNU - Keeping technology open is the flipside of keeping knowledge available.
The server applications provide the environment that the desktop applications need to thrive. Without Linux/Apache there wouldn't be cheap hosting companies touting for business on every street corner, and the present-day web would be a hell of a lot smaller and more corporate.
Linux/Asterisk is enabling a similar shift in telephony, giving birth to what are essentially one-man telcos
Important meaning what exactly? But for very fuzzy values of important and not in any particular order:
MySQL
Asterisk
something I haven't heard about yet.
I translate "project" into "organization", not "product".
Historically:
- BSD UNIX
- GNU
- Linux kernel
Today:
- Mozilla
- Wikipedia
- OpenBSD
Java - think of all the things built on it
Linux - duh
Firefox - gives M$ some real competition. That's good.
Debian and its offshoots (Ubuntu, Mint, etc.)
gcc (Think of all the things built on it! Java -- pfft!)
Apache
Only three? That is pretty hard.
It's the platform!
GNU/Linux (Linux without GNU utils is not useful)
Apache + mod_*
MySQL
Or maybe,
It's the Applications!
OpenOffice
FireFox/Thunderbird
BitTorrent
Most important pieces of Open Source software
Firefox
GNU/Linux
PHP
(Honorable mentions)
OpenOffice.org
GIMP/GIMPShop
BitTorrent
VLC
Audacity
Most important Open Source projects:
Wikimedia Foundation
Sourceforge
Mozilla
Honorable Mention:
FSF
OSI
Canonical
OpenOffice.org
Apache -- showed the world that OSS is for real
emacs -- The first thing RS wrote when he started
Wikipedia -- Is bringing the concepts out of software and convincing masses of people.
#1 Firefox (greatest potential to be seen and adopted, especially good for innovation.)
#2 Apache Project (what all the good stuff is built on)
#3 MySQL (what all the good data is stored in)
additionally:
#4 Linux (especially Ubuntu, best chance of taking the desktop)
#5 Mediawiki (flexibility is key!)
#6 Bittorrent (distributed downloading, love it!)
#7 Asterisk (the future...killer product!)
#8 Open Office (long struggle ahead with good opportunity if managed right)
#9 Gaim/Jabber. (look at meebo! more like this coming!)
For Newbies:
Firefox
OpenOffice.org
Mandriva
For Advanced users:
Linux
KDE
GNU tools
For hackers:
vi/emacs
gdb
[Put your language here]
For web players:
php
rails
apache/mysql
Linux
Firefox
Apache
(Runners up)
Perl - for old times sakes
Python - for new times sakes
Apache - largely responsible for the widespread proliferation of the web
MySQL - allowed businesses to use the web for more than advertising without it being prohibitively expensive
Firefox - for pushing web browsing so far beyond IE's capabilities that MS had to finally get off its collective a$$ and at least start paying attention to what people actually wanted to accomplish on the web.
gcc (and associated toolchain) -- without which nothing else would exist
apache httpd (and associated modules) -- drives the interweb
gnu/linux -- aside from its own value, has been the stick to push all the other OS's to keep up
Firefox
Linux
Open Office
Firefox and Open Office are the OSS projects I use on a constant basis, even in Windows. Linux is the engine driving the car.
Linux
Firefox
Wikipedia
(Tim, does this post and comment thread count as an example of 'short, modular and open'?)
Because you worded it most important implying the ones we'd have the most trouble recovering from the loss of...
1) GNU
2) Linux (the kernel)
3) Apache
*STALE* ya'll are frigging boring. these projects have all already had the majority of their significant impact and have matured into a basically stable code base.
DragonflyBSD
PulseAudio
XCB
DBus
Db4o
L4::Pistachio (or Fiasco)
I'd prop jabber, but I cant recall any individual jabber projects worth propping. I guess telepathy project, their specs are absolutely delightful.
nat, if you meant most impact-ful, i'd settle for BSD, Konqueror, and GCC tool suite.
Wow, that's a very hard question.
1. BSD/Linux
2. Bind
3. Sendmail/Postfix
*. Apache
*. MySQL
*. Perl/PHP
*. Firefox
Seems to me that the big question in all of these comments is - what constitutes "important" ? You could define importance as most used (apache, linux, maybe firefox). Or you could define importance as the projects that are forcing us to rethink what software is and how we all create and compete in this industry. I prefer the latter.
I don't think apache, for example, is making anyone think differently about software or competition. Firefox, on the other hand, is having a huge impact on the evolution of browsers and the web -- keeping Microsoft open and forcing Microsoft to innovate (albeit much more slowly than firefox...)
I guess I would list eclipse second, but perhaps that is only because I spent too much time in the early part of this decade working for Borland and losing to eclipse in the mindshare battle for the future of Java. Sun lost too. IBM had a very clear objective to use open source as a competitive weapon in defining what Java is and how it would evolve. The lesson here goes well beyond the IDE market and points to how open source can be used competitively against companies that otherwise are market leaders (Borland JBuilder) or should be (Sun's Forte).
Linux (in all of its variants) has to be on this list of top 3 -- because of all of the devices and systems that it makes possible - redefining every category of computing. I think we have lost sight of how important Linux is because it is ubiquitous. But imagine a world in which every device and system manufacturer would either have to build their own proprietary OS or would have to go to Microsoft or Sun or IBM to license an OS. What a nightmare that would be!
Right now:
1. Apache
2. Mozilla
3. GCC
If I wasn't biased against Java (like if I had ever used it) then I would probably put that at #3.
I'd like to add that Perl6 will soon become #3, and I'd also like a pony.
Because the internet would grind to a halt and thusly our economy tank without them...
- Bind
- Sendmail (or Postfix)
- Apache
On second thought, there is Windows Server, IIS and Exchange I guess.
[ducks]
The most important are those used on daily basis by avarage-non-geek-computer-user:
1. Firefox
2. OpenOffice
3. ??? don't know any other open source application that popular (maybe Thunderbird)
The answer I'd give today is...
Apache HTTP
Linux
Firefox
The answer I would have given ten years ago would have been...
gcc
Sendmail
Bind
Boy it is really hard to narrow it down to just three.
Linux
Apache
VLC (VideoLAN Client)
Though I would really like to include the whole LAMP bundle as well as all the Mozilla software too.
You said
"If you use open source, please tell me in the comments what you think are the three most important open source projects going today."
However that could mean, the most influential today, and that would have to include those that are currently most pervasive. These would include:
- Apache
- Firefox
- Linux
On the other hand, if you mean the Open Source projects that are going to cause new industry disruptions, then the list would be:
- Asterisk
- OpenSolaris
- OpenOffice
Firefox
Apache
Linux
PhP
MySQL
MediaWiki
WordPress
BitTorrent/Azureus
Subversion
Ruby
Python
Zope
Plone
Drupal
Moodle
Second Life client/libsecondlife
0. gcc
Nothing else comes remotely close, as everything else has viable alternatives.
By some other "most important" metric I've argued that Semantic MediaWiki is it, as it has potential to make what would have to be the most important non-software open source like project (Wikipedia) much more valuable, as well as the web, by serving as a killer application for the semantic web.
Something that (re)enables application decentralization would be my third pick, but I don't know if there's an obvious project to choose. Maybe something from the jabber, p2p, capability security or wider crypto communities.
RoR
Linux
Apache
only three? I need more: sqlite, vim, gnome, kde... the list is very big :)
Most Important, and *right now*. Ok, that's a *very* tough call, but, in terms of "currently making a huge difference above and beyond what others in the space would be making if they weren't there" I guess I might pick:
1) Firefox
2) Ubuntu
3) BitTorrent? Java? Eclipse? Tor? Sigh, Too many options...ok, Java, I guess.
Wikipedia would have been in there apart from the fact that it's more of an open *content* project than an open source project - Mediawiki is well suited to the task of course, but other wiki's could have fit the bill also.
Also note that this is quite a different list to the "Most important open source projects of all time", which would have to include GNU/Linux and Apache, but the third would be trickier to pick.
Actually I take it back, the third wouldn't be tricky to pick because GNU and Linux are separate projects, so the most important O/S projects of all time would be GNU, Linux, and Apache. But right now, it's hard to say that BSD and Lighttpd wouldn't provide reasonable replacements...or maybe not. Meh. I don't know. Evil question, Nat. My brain hurts :-)
GNU - because is the base of all OSS Free
Linux - it completes GNU, and is the standard word when we think at FOSS
FreeDesktop.org - the third upcoming standard for free software
1. GCC
2. Linux
3. Samba
The question is, if these projects disapeared, is there anything that could replace them? For GCC maybe, but it would be a sore blow to thousands of othe rprojects - huge knock-on effects. Likewise BSD ciould take on Linux's mantle, but again it would be a massive blow to so many people, projects and companies that it would set back open source software immeasurably.
I almost said Apache, and maybe it is mor eimportant than Samba to many people, but without Samba there's little to no meaningful integration between open source OSes and Windows on the network, and this is a critical area. Apache could be replaced, but Samba is a one-off.
It's all arguable, your answer will vary depending on your point of view, but I have tried to be impartial and take a holistic view.
Come on! No one mentioned Knuth's tex??? It foundamentally changed the whole typesetting industry.
I'm going to assume the question meant: "Which projects are going to have the most impact in the future." To me something that's important today is something that will have large a impact tomorrow (sorta like carbon emissions).
Haha, wow where'd that soap box come from?!
1. xulrunner
2. wikimedia
3. asterisk
1. Pentaho Business Intelligence suite bringing open source solutions to the enterprise end-user
2. Mule ESB extending open source throughout the enterprise but known only to the back room techs
3. Zimbra allowing open source collaboration among organizations and individuals
These three, their competitors and complementary open source projects will extend open source solutions beyond the realm of geeks, "power users" and other early adopters.
1. Subversion
2. FireFox
3. MySQL
4. Apache
Subversion is the best software I have ever used and I think the most impressive Open Source Project there is.
Firefox is moving standards for the web forward.
MySQL is just the best. A rock solid db that just works.
And Apache. (Hey I'm a web programmer :) )
firefox
firefox
firefox
It's the only thing threatening the dominence of microsoft on the desktop. Everything else (important as it is) is only the 'supporting case'
GCC - So many things depend on it, and in many things there is no real competition
Firefox
Apache
It all depends on your context. As far as being the most broad reaching and have a positive impact on the most people:
Linux
Firefox
MySQL
As far as what's most interesting to me working in systems management and infrastructure:
Apache
Xen
Zenoss
MediaWiki - including extensions
Firefox - including extensions
Open Office - including software that builds on it
- gcc very few OSS projects would have been possible without it
- apache kept the web free
- firefox keeps the web free
I'm going to cheat ;)
LAMP (for Content Delivery)
Firefox (for Content Reception)
OpenOffice.org (for Content Creation)
I'm very tempted to answer this in the frame of "all time", but you specifically say "Current". I think most of the answers here are from the point of view of all time. If that's what you really want, then I would say:
...But by saying "current", there are three ways to consider answering this:
A) Which Open projects have been most influential over all time, but still active and relevant today?
1. Linux (currently, I think Ubuntu is most important in this flock because of its accessibility)
2. gcc
3. Apache
B) Which Open projects are most important for opening the doors of tomorrow? (Most answers thus far focus on doors that were opened to shape today.)
1. Ubuntu
2. Ruby
3. Mozilla
C) If all Open projects were suddenly and freakishly (and illegally) closed, which would you miss the most?
1. Mozilla
2. MySQL
3. Ruby
1) Linux : Because it's the most likely to be picked up at governmental level (eg: China, Brazil) to break the MS monopoly.
2) Wikipedia : Because it's a demonstration that trust is possible, and profit isn't the only driver in the universe
Although I use PHP/MYSQL/APACHE every day, I'd have to say
3) Mailman : Because it has multiplied the size of my contact list by about 100, I know New York lawyers, Russian entrepreneurs, hippies, billionaires, journalists, authors etc etc - as well as a resevoire of tech talent, that I'd never have time or the connections to keep in touch with otherwise.
Firefox
Linux
.... I think that's all the open source I use!
I'm Mac based and program mostly in ColdFusion/IIS/SQL Server.
Good question? Why, because its difficult to answer, and you've made it even harder because you've stated you're worried about something? Are you wondering about Perl, or something entirely different. There's a hundred ways to answer this, depending on one's agenda, but if we think of innovation and competition, then;
- Linux with ALL of its server/development based infrastructure... from the kernel, hardware drivers, interesting disk partitioning, networking, over to a aside called distros, then up through the clouds to fully developed programs, programming languages etc. There are some mixed bags in this, such as Apache, which is very popular, but very sluggish in innovation; it is only up to module developers that this gets anywhere.
- The concept of LAMP (in which I don't care if you use apache, lighttpd, python, perl, php, ruby, mysql, postgres... it really doesn't matter as much as you might think from the moaning and competing on slashdot) means web development has low barriers for innovation and competition. It lacks stifling licensing costs and encourages developers to share the open source mantra of sharing the source code. Great!
- The weak, but still important, part, for me, is a popular, non-Microsoft desktop OS/office suite. Apple has the closest to this, in terms of popularity and especially usability/functionality, but for all their wonderful points (and there are lots), they are still miles away from being a fully open source product, and this is a problem. It is possible, but still much harder than XP/Vista, to get a home, office or government agency to run a room full of non-Microsoft computers, and while that's the case innovation will suffer, especially in a world suddenly caring alot of about DRM.
Well, for me personally its got to be Magnolia, of course ;-)
1. Apache (WebServer) because it made the web explode
2. sendmail because it made the internet explode
3. gcc because it made the application space explode
Hello for me it has to be
Linux
Joomla
Apache
Mysql
Php and many others but just to name some
Linux
GNU
Apache
Mysql
Ruby
Mozilla
KDE
Xorg
(though I assume most of the guys who said "Linux" actually refer to some distribution or combination of GNU/Linux to some degree, including gcc and autotools, without which you can't make use of the system at all, also note Xorg comes before any gui app like Firefox...)
(1) Linux (the kernel): makes things run
(2) gcc: makes things runnable
(3) the Internet: makes it possible to get the first two easily, and makes it much more interesting to run things!
(1) and (2) are in good shape. (3) is in danger of being "unopened" by corporate and governmental interests.
OK, I have to add one more. Open source applied to legal news and analysis:
(4) Groklaw: fighting to keep Open open.
It's not enough for just 3 projects, but these are the most useful softwares make the world better..
- linux
- apache
- mysql
- php
- firefox
- open office
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Anonymous [2007-01-23 07:09 PM]
Linux
The Apache Project
OpenOffice