The World Wide Web has today become a collaborative medium that allows users to interact and participate by contributing. This rich flow of information and user experience that emerged out of this participatory social web is more popularly called the web 2.0 that includes the social networking sites, Cloud computing etc that are all a reflection of the essence of web 2.0. It got a massive boost as the technology made waves and thus a social web 2.0 emerged that now acts both as a platform and a database due to the favorable ecosystem of web based technologies that allow for creation of user-generated content and collaboration.
Taking it even further and fully utilizing the web 2.0 to optimally exploit its immense potential is the Free and Open source software (FOSS) that is essentially non-proprietary software that is distributed along with its source code and often developed co-operatively by volunteer computer programmers. So although both the web 2.0 and FOSS are distinct in that one is proprietary while the other is non proprietary, they together complement each other for phenomenal far reaching effects. FOSS is a great enabler in the web 2.0 digital wave as it empowers user-communities to create and participate in expanding the possibilities of World Wide Web towards a web 3.0.
Apart from being an economical and efficient choice, As FOSS provides a powerful platform with strong intangible benefits to create, learn and spread new software, Skills and user experience, It has a crucial and lasting role to play in emerging economies when used by businesses, Educational institutions, Government departments and various user communities. Moreover most of the software now being used to run computing devices of different types from servers, Computers to phones, Chips in cameras are either FOSS or created with FOSS. FOSS is dynamic and in sync with the principles of participatory web and has the benefit that it gets improved quicker and develops quicker than proprietary software. Powered by the web 2.0, FOSS has a domino effect as users have the access to the source so it is easier to fix the faults and improve the application when seen in totality coupled with the combination of open licenses , it simplifies the development process for many enterprises by giving them flexibility.
The mobile OS landscape too has transformed at a rapid pace as a result we see a quantum leap in the device and application development in present times as distinct from the past few years, A major contribution of which goes to FOSS as against proprietary software. Critics actually argue that software patent has in some ways inhibited innovation as the progress in software industry is highly sequential and growth happens cumulatively.
The lucrative mobile software market has witnessed monumental shifts with the open source software playing a significant role just as it has in enterprise software and cloud computing. FOSS has been the force behind the meteoric rise of today’s heavyweight mobile OS as Android built on Linux based operating system, Similarly the recently open source Tizen OS and Ubuntu for mobile phones that reinforce that open source mobile are successful and shall add a fresh perspective to bring significant in the coming future just as they have done in the past.
Thus for instance in Android OS, FOSS provides a favorable ecosystem by encouraging developers to customize and improve the mobile OS environment for a more significant user experience. The recent trend has been to extend the mobile experience by unleashing the mobile apps and web apps and thus expand its utility and aesthetics of the mobile platform.
India as a major technology hub has many software Indian companies building apps. In view of that in Android application development India has a huge talent pool of Android app developers India who also comprise of a huge mix of user communities involved in FOSS and thus offers a great opportunity to give your business a head start as they are exposed to the entire software ecosystem and landscape.
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