While we're all familiar with large and well-known open source projects, I thought I'd highlight a few 2009 Best of Open Source (Bossie) winners that caught my attention, most of which I hadn't followed in the past.
[ See the slideshows of the 2009 InfoWorld Bossie Award winners: The best of open source developer tools | The best of open source enterprise software | The best of open source networking software | The best of open source platforms and middleware. ]
In the Application Development category, the PhoneGap development framework won in the mobile application development arena. InfoWorld writes:
The iPhone, Android, Palm webOS, BlackBerry, and their app stores have made mobile application development all the rage in the past year, and 2009 marks the first year we award Bossies in that arena: to the PhoneGap development framework and the WebKit browser engine.
The PhoneGap project combines a focus on pure JavaScript and HTML with the ability to tap native device features such as the iPhone's accelerometer and geolocation data. Given tools such as PhoneGap and the fact that so many mobile platforms have caught WebKit fever, standard Web technologies may become more important to mobile development than native SDKs.
Readers may remember that I'd originally called for RIM to buy the guys behind PhoneGap. Now that RIM is going to deliver a WebKit-based mobile browser, and with the Bossie in hand, I'll reiterate this recommendation.
OpenStreetMap also took home a Bossie in the Application Development category:
Finally, a Bossie also to OpenStreetMap, an open source version of popular mapping services like Google Maps and MapQuest. OpenStreetMap holds mapping parties for areas where it doesn't have good mapping data. Because all the geolocation data comes from volunteers, it can be shared and reused in ways that Google and other commercial mappers don't allow. It's an ambitious and well-organized project that you don't have to be a developer to help out.
The Nginx Web server took home a Bossie in the Platforms and Middleware category:
Powering nearly 4 percent of the world's Web sites and growing, the Nginx Web server argues that lighter, smaller, and faster -- than Apache -- is better, and there are several reasons to agree.
Since I'm knee deep into CEA and SIP, this Bossie winner in the Networking and Network Management category caught my eye:
Kamailio, the SIP proxy formerly known as OpenSER, earns a Bossie for being such a good partner to Asterisk, helping the VoIP PBX meet the scalability and reliability requirements of business environments. Where Asterisk works well, you'll likely also find Kamailio/OpenSER.
Head on over to read about winners of InfoWorld's Best of Open Source Software 2009.
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p.s.: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions."