“Open-source application development tools are taking an
increasingly prominent role alongside commercial products in a
growing number of information system departments.”
“Just as Linux has made inroads into territory once claimed by
commercial vendors, open-source tools are gaining wide adoption in
a market dominated by Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and others. Once
again, a movement of independent coders operating without funds,
marketing machinery, or paid programmers is taking market share
from some of the most sophisticated companies in the computer
industry.”
“Shinozuka finds it easier to support multiple operating systems
and hardware platforms with open source. With commercial software,
supporting multiple hardware platforms means administering multiple
compiler licenses. “Setting up these license managers, transferring
them from host to host, adding new licenses, and setting up
redundancy has sometimes taken our system administrators days to
get right,” he says.”
“Eliminating the internal paperwork associated with purchases
and acquisitions has been another benefit of adopting open-source
tools. Because open source does not need formal evaluations,
purchase orders, or licensing agreements, using it is something any
developer can initiate. While that kind of freewheeling adoption of
tools on an ad hoc basis may not be allowed in every IT
organization, Shinozuka, for example, is free to use what he deems
the best tool for the job.”