Next time you play a game on your mobile phone or login to Facebook or use Google, you have to thank thousands of software developers around the world who openly collaborate to bring us these products and services.
This form of collaboration between professionals is broadly termed "open source" as ideas, codes, and innovation are shared and not restricted within the walls of a particular company.
Sun Microsystems is the largest commercial contributor to open source communities and this message was hammered home to a keen Maltese audience of software developers during a recent conference as part of Sun's Tech Days.
The company believes open source "is the ideal development and business model for today's massively connected, participation age economy".
The conference presented an international line of speakers who explained how Sun's initiatives are contributing to the development of many applications we take for granted. It was organised in Malta in collaboration with Computime, the only local company that can provide all products and services from Sun Microsystems, i.e. servers, storage, software and services and training.
Reginald Hutcherson, manager of the Sun Technology Evangelism group, gave the keynote speech. His group is responsible for providing the long-term strategic vision of Sun's technologies to developers, executives, press and key customers worldwide.
Mr Hutcherson described how application development has changed over time and today collaboration, speed and communication are paramount. Cycle times are much reduced. In the past, it took months, if not years, to release software, today it's immediate and iterative. Distribution has also changed, for today everything is being downloaded from the so-called "cloud" online, while before, distribution was carried out through CDs and DVDs.
Even the commercial aspect of software development has changed, with the goal being the volume and then profitability, not the other way round as it was before. Money is being made in different ways, with the subscription model and advertising having taken over from the traditional one-time purchase of a licence. Vendors are also more willing to talk to their clients and listen to them.
The Sun evangelist gave five good reasons to be "open" when developing software. "There are no barriers to entry or exit, it provides for increased operability, there is more research and development going on, and it is more secure," he told Maltese IT professionals.
There are various examples of software development in open conditions that survive the rigors of tough environments. He mentioned Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Nasa, the US Department of Defence, and the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Java and C remain the most popular programming languages according to international research, with C++, Visual Basic and PHP also in the top five positions.
"Sun is the world's open source leader," reiterated Mr Hutcherson, giving a long list of software developed by Sun, including Java, OpenOffice.org, MySQL, Solaris and OpenSparc that span the different types of applications used today. He described them as "powerful, open and innovative".
Peter Karlsson, a Solaris Technology Evangelist who works with developers to adopt technologies delivered through the Solaris operating environment, presented a demo of OpenSolaris, the open source platform to develop next generation applications.
These features include easy customisation, installation of new applications, network configuration and maintenance. This operating system, though free of charge, is backed by Sun's support and a developer community. A presentation on Sun's Virtual Box was also shown.
Cloud computing, a new trend on how products and services are used, was also mentioned in the conference. There are three basic layers in cloud computing: software as service where applications are offered on demand over the network; platforms as service with a develop platform with built-in services (such as Google App Engine); and infrastructure as service with basic storage and computing capabilities offered as a service (such as Amazon web services).
Chuk Munn Lee, a senior developer consultant and technology evangelist for Technology Outreach at Sun in Singapore, gave a demo on Java FX and Java SE.
"JavaFX, powered by Java, is the platform for the screens of your life," according to Sun. This can be used to design rich internet applications for computers, laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, satellite navigation aids and multimedia set-top boxes.
Sang Shin, a Java technology architect, consultant and evangelist at Sun Microsystems, gave a presentation about WSIT (Web Services Interoperability Technologies), a joint effort with Microsoft to ensure interoperability of web services enterprise technologies such as message optimisation, reliable messaging and security.
Sun's event in Malta kicked off a series of open source conferences around Europe. These are being organised at a time when IBM is in talks with Sun to acquire it. If they reach agreement, Sun would be IBM's largest acquisition and bolster its offering of computer hardware, software and services.
A deal could be worth $6.5 billion to $8 billion.
A combination of the world's No. 1 and No. 4 makers of server computers, however, could draw anti-trust scrutiny from regulators in the US and abroad, according to Reuters reports. The merged company would hold 65 per cent of the $17 billion market for Unix servers, which major companies and governments rely on for critical operations, according to market researcher IDC.
IBM and Sun were the top two players in that market in 2008, with 37 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. Hewlett-Packard Co. was third, with 27 per cent.
Some analysts have said that IBM, with greater manpower and more effective management, may be able to make better use of Sun's assets.
Many also say that they see a potential deal between the two companies as part of a consolidation trend, as IBM and rivals like HP and Cisco Systems Inc. compete to offer software, services and hardware based on emerging technologies that can power complex corporate transactions and networks.
This form of collaboration between professionals is broadly termed "open source" as ideas, codes, and innovation are shared and not restricted within the walls of a particular company.
Sun Microsystems is the largest commercial contributor to open source communities and this message was hammered home to a keen Maltese audience of software developers during a recent conference as part of Sun's Tech Days.
The company believes open source "is the ideal development and business model for today's massively connected, participation age economy".
The conference presented an international line of speakers who explained how Sun's initiatives are contributing to the development of many applications we take for granted. It was organised in Malta in collaboration with Computime, the only local company that can provide all products and services from Sun Microsystems, i.e. servers, storage, software and services and training.
Reginald Hutcherson, manager of the Sun Technology Evangelism group, gave the keynote speech. His group is responsible for providing the long-term strategic vision of Sun's technologies to developers, executives, press and key customers worldwide.
Mr Hutcherson described how application development has changed over time and today collaboration, speed and communication are paramount. Cycle times are much reduced. In the past, it took months, if not years, to release software, today it's immediate and iterative. Distribution has also changed, for today everything is being downloaded from the so-called "cloud" online, while before, distribution was carried out through CDs and DVDs.
Even the commercial aspect of software development has changed, with the goal being the volume and then profitability, not the other way round as it was before. Money is being made in different ways, with the subscription model and advertising having taken over from the traditional one-time purchase of a licence. Vendors are also more willing to talk to their clients and listen to them.
The Sun evangelist gave five good reasons to be "open" when developing software. "There are no barriers to entry or exit, it provides for increased operability, there is more research and development going on, and it is more secure," he told Maltese IT professionals.
There are various examples of software development in open conditions that survive the rigors of tough environments. He mentioned Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Nasa, the US Department of Defence, and the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Java and C remain the most popular programming languages according to international research, with C++, Visual Basic and PHP also in the top five positions.
"Sun is the world's open source leader," reiterated Mr Hutcherson, giving a long list of software developed by Sun, including Java, OpenOffice.org, MySQL, Solaris and OpenSparc that span the different types of applications used today. He described them as "powerful, open and innovative".
Peter Karlsson, a Solaris Technology Evangelist who works with developers to adopt technologies delivered through the Solaris operating environment, presented a demo of OpenSolaris, the open source platform to develop next generation applications.
These features include easy customisation, installation of new applications, network configuration and maintenance. This operating system, though free of charge, is backed by Sun's support and a developer community. A presentation on Sun's Virtual Box was also shown.
Cloud computing, a new trend on how products and services are used, was also mentioned in the conference. There are three basic layers in cloud computing: software as service where applications are offered on demand over the network; platforms as service with a develop platform with built-in services (such as Google App Engine); and infrastructure as service with basic storage and computing capabilities offered as a service (such as Amazon web services).
Chuk Munn Lee, a senior developer consultant and technology evangelist for Technology Outreach at Sun in Singapore, gave a demo on Java FX and Java SE.
"JavaFX, powered by Java, is the platform for the screens of your life," according to Sun. This can be used to design rich internet applications for computers, laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, satellite navigation aids and multimedia set-top boxes.
Sang Shin, a Java technology architect, consultant and evangelist at Sun Microsystems, gave a presentation about WSIT (Web Services Interoperability Technologies), a joint effort with Microsoft to ensure interoperability of web services enterprise technologies such as message optimisation, reliable messaging and security.
Sun's event in Malta kicked off a series of open source conferences around Europe. These are being organised at a time when IBM is in talks with Sun to acquire it. If they reach agreement, Sun would be IBM's largest acquisition and bolster its offering of computer hardware, software and services.
A deal could be worth $6.5 billion to $8 billion.
A combination of the world's No. 1 and No. 4 makers of server computers, however, could draw anti-trust scrutiny from regulators in the US and abroad, according to Reuters reports. The merged company would hold 65 per cent of the $17 billion market for Unix servers, which major companies and governments rely on for critical operations, according to market researcher IDC.
IBM and Sun were the top two players in that market in 2008, with 37 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. Hewlett-Packard Co. was third, with 27 per cent.
Some analysts have said that IBM, with greater manpower and more effective management, may be able to make better use of Sun's assets.
Many also say that they see a potential deal between the two companies as part of a consolidation trend, as IBM and rivals like HP and Cisco Systems Inc. compete to offer software, services and hardware based on emerging technologies that can power complex corporate transactions and networks.