How much do you know about open source software coding? You should know more. As InfoWorld points out, the open source movement marches on and in its second decade is stronger than ever. 

Code is everywhere, and it is more and more likely to be open source from the bottom to the top of the stack. Ruby, Python, Perl, JavaScript, and PHP dominate the list of top languages at GitHub. This code, in turn, runs on open source libraries that sit on Linux. Although proprietary coding tools and extensions continue to proliferate, the core is increasingly fully open source. 

And furthermore:

This domination is pushing into other areas. Open source content management systems like web.py, phpBB, CakePHP, Lift, Drupal, Joomla, and probably hundreds of other open source CMS frameworks are packaging up most of the information you read today. It is rare to find a Web site that depends on just Apache to deliver the content.

Analysts say Red Hat, an open source originator, had $1 billion in revenue last year, and is valued around $9 billion today. So clearly there's money to be made in a world that most of us associate with "free software." The speed with which the open source philosophy has caught on is truly breathtaking. 

 

-- Don Willmott