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Welcome to the Open source zone

What to expect in the developerWorks Open source zone

Mark Cappel (cappel@us.ibm.com), Open source zone editor, IBM
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Mark Cappel is the editor of the Open source zone. He's been editing periodicals and Web sites related to computing, on and off, for almost 20 years.

Summary:  IBM® is launching a revamped developerWorks Open source zone, which will deliver more articles, resources, tools, and tutorials that support major industry open source initiatives, including Linux™, Apache, Derby, Globus, and Eclipse. Learn how you can benefit.

Date:  25 Feb 2005
Level:  Introductory

Comments:  

Welcome to the developerWorks Open source zone! Open source is the most wide-ranging, fastest-growing, and dynamic field of software development today. This zone will help technical professionals and developers surf the open source wave and take advantage of its unique attributes for organizations of all sizes. The Open source zone will work hand-in-glove with existing developerWorks zones that are already covering open source content, including the Linux zone, Grid computing zone, DB2® zone, Java™ zone, and WebSphere® zone.

Of course, open source is much more than Linux, Apache, and grid computing. According to the Open Source Initiative (OSI), it can be defined this way:

"Open source promotes software reliability and quality by supporting independent peer review and rapid evolution of source code. To be OSI certified, the software must be distributed under a license that guarantees the right to read, redistribute, modify, and use the software freely."

To me, open source is collaboration. More specifically, it is public collaboration on a software project. Many open source developers work alone on their own time when contributing to a project. To be sure, some IBM people do just that. However, as a company, IBM has committed to open source in a big way with contributions to more than 120 projects, including more than $1 billion in Linux development alone.

On top of that, IBM also recently contributed 500 patents into a "patent commons" to help drive innovation and future software development.

IBM developerWorks is a community with more than 4.5 million registered users. As regular readers know, developerWorks offers tools and education to help developers build and deploy applications across heterogeneous systems. Like the other developerWorks content areas, the Open source zone provides the best possible technical resources for developers, architects, systems administrators, and other professionals implementing enterprise and SMB IT systems. Expect articles on:

  • Apache
    Expect stories on developing applications using Ant and other advanced tools.

  • Derby
    We will focus on how to use the open source, Java technology-based database for Apache.

  • Eclipse
    We intend to publish at least one story on Eclipse weekly, and run several columns on this growing IDE.

  • Globus grid computing
    This zone will augment the existing developerWorks Grid computing zone.

  • LAMP application and server development
    LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. LAMP has a bigger meaning, too. LAMP represents a non-proprietary, flexible way to create a server-based application.

  • Licensing issues
    When releasing software as open source, you must choose one of many open source licenses. See the OSI list of approved licenses. The Open source zone won't choose sides, but rather will discuss licensing issues and trends of importance to software developers.

  • Linux
    The Open source zone will focus on IBM's contributions to Linux. The existing Linux zone will continue to focus on broader Linux topics.

  • Scripting languages
    We will focus on advanced scripting issues for PHP, Perl, and Python developers.

  • IBM's open source products
    You'll find links to and discussions about IBM products encompassing open source code, such as Cloudscape™, WebSphere, the Life Science Indentifier (LSID) Protocol, and RoboCode.

developerWorks has a six-year tradition of publishing technical papers and howtos with an emphasis on open source and open standards. The Open source zone will continue in that tradition by offering:

  • Articles and tutorials that offer how-to, hands-on information readers can apply immediately
  • Project news briefs that summarize new developments in projects
  • Links directly to each project's host site
  • Blogs from developers involved in open source development
  • Forums focusing on open source issues

And we will point you to the best resources Web-wide, including our own. We will help you to navigate it, too, pointing you to the resources you need to know about, and to the documentation, the answers, or the people you need to find to answer your questions.


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Mark Cappel is the editor of the Open source zone. He's been editing periodicals and Web sites related to computing, on and off, for almost 20 years.

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