The role of open source in cloud infrastructure

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Marten Mickos.

Why is it that open source wins in infrastructure software? Why do websites run on Cassandra and MongoDB? Why are the biggest clouds in the world built on Linux and open source hypervisors? How come the leading cloud management platforms are open source?

The answer is surprisingly simple. The solution has emerged over the past two decades thanks to Apache, Linux, MySQL and other enormously popular software technologies. When you provide software to people who can and want to develop or maintain software themselves, the code needs to be open. If you provide software to a consumer or to a business, it’s about the service and the business benefits, not about openness per se…

It turns out that the openness requirement by professionals is a generic phenomenon. Anyone can love chicken biryani, but those who enjoy cooking or who are professional chefs will want to know the specifics of how it is prepared and what it contains. The connoisseur and enthusiast require access to the details — not just to have the ability to do the same, but for the ability to verify the quality and modify to fit their needs. The casual consumer will just focus on the experience and the benefits…

Read more from the source @ http://www.informationweek.in/open_source/13-05-13/the_role_of_open_source_in_cloud_infrastructure.aspx