ITGumbo: spicing IT up

• #5 – ZK – Simply Ajax and Mobile: Small, compact developer-oriented frameworks, like ZK, have come to define the type of project which is optimally operated as open source for a number of reasons. First, their target user is highly technical and better yet a programmer, meaning they are more likely to have experience with free/open source software and don't require the same ramp-up period to learn and adjust as a user. Among other things this results in the project immediately being able to count on a capable base of qualified participants and contributors. On the other hand, projects which target non-technical crowds can't exactly assume that a healthy percentage of its end users will ever be able to commit patches, bugs, or extensions as ZK can.

• #4 - Stellarium: You'll find mention of a niche project, in the vein of Stellarium, hard to come by throughout the mainstream press and even the blogosphere despite its number 4 ranking here. It is simply a well put together yet narrowly focused application that serves its purpose (3D rendering of photo-realistic skies in real time with OpenGL) very well for a broad variety of users (individuals interested in viewing objects like stars, constellations, planets and nebulas). As an end user focused application the main value of it being distributed under GPLv2 is that it's free for end use. The fact that it's source code is also open and transparent is most likely of secondary concern to the majority of those who are users.

• #3 – Zenoss Core – Enterprise IT Monitoring: I'll use some parallels to the world of pugilism in order to classify Zenoss. If I had to assign Zenoss to a boxing weight division it would most likely be a middleweight. As an enterprise network and systems management application written in Python/Zope it contains features found in typically expensive proprietary monitoring packages (the heavyweights) without the excess bulk and footprint (similar to a lightweight/welterweight). In a way it does a good job of straddling the fence between the two worlds as a pure open source application (GPLv2) and one which can scale as an enterprise quality offering (see Zenoss' $4.8 million funding last August).

• #2 – Openbravo ERP: I don't know whether I should be surprised to see Openbravo come in at this spot or relieved? Surprised because I'm not inclined to think open source ERP would be able to establish enough critical mass in terms of downloads that the other types of applications in the top 5 can. Relieved because if it can, that says a lot about the perceived readiness of open source CRM/ERP that don't get as much mainstream attention. Still Openbravo is listed as ERP for the Small Medium sized business (SMB) so it probably best suited as an open source solution for the sake of its target market and for the third party resellers and system integrators who target the same segment.

• #1 - Azureus: It's very little surprise that a broad scale, file sharing application built atop the BitTorrent protocols grabbed the top spot. However, the interesting part is that it happens to be written in Java...so much for Java not being portable enough for end user, desktop applications. Interesting enough after Azureus raised capital from BV Capital last summer I haven't heard very much about its plans to establish it as a so-called disruptive media distribution platform. Regardless, if that remains its commercial objective open source is the way to push towards that end.

About the blogger: Alex Fletcher is lead industry analyst at Entiva Group Incorporated, a research and analyst firm which concentrates exclusively on the open source software industry. His main focus is working to help clients of all sizes formulate strategy and policy surrounding their use of open source software within the enterprise. Alex has prior experience as a consultant, software engineer and start-up founder. He can be reached at alex dot fletcher -at- entivagroup dot com.