What’s the most important benefit of container technology? What is the true definition of open source? These are the types of hard-hitting questions we asked the sprawling open source community over the last few months. Unsurprisingly, you all had plenty to say! But did you vote with the majority or take a stand for your unique beliefs? We reveal your answers now.
Programmers Prefer Python When Testing “Hello World”
We asked you to take a stroll down memory lane and recall the programming language you conducted your first “Hello World” experiment in. While Python pulled ahead after a record-breaking amount of votes, the comments illustrated the sheer diversity of programming languages that exist, from C++ to Basic. But regardless of language, one thing was made clear – “Hello World” still manages to be a unifying factor among developers and programmers everywhere.
High Performance Is the Container Benefit That Reigns Supreme
When it comes to the rise of container technology, there are a few clear benefits that contribute to its massive sweep of the software industry. But which of these benefits did you find most noteworthy? A majority of you agreed that high performance is the benefit you found most significant. Thanks to their portability, containers perform equally well regardless of where they are first deployed, saving developers the time and hassle of customizing applications in various environments.
Put Your System Security First With Complex Personal Firewalls
The polls were not so close when we asked you to take a stand on the lengths you’d take to secure your personal firewall. John Hawley argues that an insanely complex personal firewall, such as the one he created for himself, is the best way to keep his system secure in a world where IoT and BYOD are only becoming more prevalent. And while most of you agreed that you would take a similar approach to securing your own systems, many did not buy into the idea or were still on the fence. For those of you who are not fully convinced, you might want to reconsider—John states that his segmented home network and personal firewall are just a sneak peek of the network security solution that pretty much everyone will need sooner or later.
Open Source: A Term Not So Clearly Defined
What’s in a name? When it comes to open source, so much! We asked the community to help define the two words beyond just “software.” And while collective wisdom and a methodology were worthy contenders, most of you defined open source as “free as in speech.” This liberty gives the community the right to run the software however they like, explore how the software actually works, redistribute it how they wish and improve the program. And while this freedom is definitely an element of open source that the community takes great pride in, it’s clear that a simple definition of open source is far easier asked for than delivered.
The Best Way to Create Container Images
Finally, we asked you to look at container image creation from a packaging format lens and cast your vote for the property that is most important to you. While repeatability and the ability to feature the latest content struck a chord with many of you, having identifiable content came out on top. With identifiable content, developers can rationalize license compliance implications and identify known security vulnerabilities. But what if you’re looking to maintain all of these properties with the industry standard workflows? See what Joshua Lock and Nisha Kumar have to say about how Linux distribution tools can help.
For more updates on open source community sentiment, check back for our next poll recap on the Open Source Blog and stay tuned for new polls on our Twitter channel (@vmwopensource).
