open source

=== Originally published at: The Agile Approach ===

In the ’90s romantic comedy that we borrowed the title from, a chain of dramatic events take place, while the main character (played by Peter Gallagher) is in a post-accident coma.

Comatose sleep is a little too dramatic for this, but just in case you spent the last couple of years on a beautiful island, away from the daily strains of the everyday life in the 21st century, let us list some of the major, latest technical advancements for you. For the less-fortunate rest of us, who did not get to lounge on an island, this is a chance to look back and identify new technologies that have changed the way we live and operate, but were not around just couple of years ago.

Twitter

Twitter took off during 2007 SXSW festival. This 140-character-limit social messaging service revolutionized the Internet landscape by inventing, and at the same time monopolizing, a completely new phenomena: Micro-Blogging. The invention was so successful that it went far beyond the initial idea and became the most effective way to share ideas on the Web.

Linked Data

Open-source, as a concept and a phenomenon, is quite special. What fascinates me in the Free/Open Source model is how efficiently it addresses several concerns at the same time: social, business and technological/innovative. Not to forget that it's been proven to actually work.

What is the major driving force behind the Open-Source model? A lot of people have tried to answer this question, with the different degrees of success. There probably is not a single correct answer. The Open-Source idea, like any other philosophical notion, touches aspects of human interaction, and the answer largely depends on the personal perceptions of an individual. I have changed my opinion several times, myself, through the years. Still, I dare give my two cents about the subject.