Daniel Hardy

Everyday it seems like I hear about another company pushing a new Open Source agenda. Today Download Squad had a great article about Reddit going opensource.

This is an amazing step for a web site.  To my knowledge no other popular site has opened their codebase on this level.  Sure there are lots that have open API’s but this is a very very different thing than letting someone access your data through a cloaked application layer.

Instantly closed source proponents have deemed this an ill fated move on the basis that anyone can now read the rating algorithm and there by diminish the sites value by “gaming” the system.  I disagree whole heartedly with this idea.  Sure people will try to deconstruct the algorithm and utilize it for their nefarious agendas but the community will respond quickly by writing a better algorithm.

A great example of this principal can be seen with Linux.  Every piece of code in the operating system is available to anyone who wants it yet it continues to be the most secure operating system out there.  Perhaps Firefox is a better example as it hits close to home and has a large user base(according to the W3schools.com it has almost 40% market share ).  Again anyone can review the code and find exploits.  This happens all the time but because there are 100’s of eyes reviewing the code these exploits are fixed almost immediately by the community.

Overall I think this is a great move on Reddit’s part.  I also believe we will continue to see a large increase in the number of organizations deciding that Open Source is a viable business model.

Love it or hate it, Apple’s Safari web browser has started making gains in market share. These gains have been small by many accounts but I believe Safari has a couple things going for it that currently Firefox and IE can’t compete with. Its ability to be easily embedded into and modified.

This ability does not come directly from Safari but rather its open source rendering engine, Webkit. This engine has proven to be extremely competent and lightweight. It also has one of the fastest rendering times available.

Because it is easy to work with and free(as in speech and beer) it is now being used not only by Safari, but Adobe’s AIR environment and you can even run Epiphany with a Webkit engine.

The mobile environment is where this browser will really get its wings from. Currently there is nothing that can compete with it in this area. It is extremely fast and allows users to view websites as they where intended.

Perhaps more importantly it creates an easy to use interface for navigating pages that where clearly designed for much larger monitors. This is the piece that really makes the difference. It renders the page in its entirety in a zoomed out view. From there the user can simply double click on an area to zoom in. Once zoomed in you can simply move around the page, or zoom out as necessary.

This combination, if unopposed may help vault Safari into a prominent position.

Love it or hate it, Apple’s Safari web browser has started making gains in market share. These gains have been small by many accounts but I believe Safari has a couple things going for it that currently Firefox and IE can’t compete with. Its ability to be easily embedded into and modified.

This ability does not come directly from Safari but rather its open source rendering engine, Webkit. This engine has proven to be extremely competent and lightweight. It also has one of the fastest rendering times available.

Because it is easy to work with and free(as in speech and beer) it is now being used not only by Safari, but Adobe’s AIR environment and you can even run Epiphany with a Webkit engine.

The mobile environment is where this browser will really get its wings from. Currently there is nothing that can compete with it in this area. It is extremely fast and allows users to view websites as they where intended.

Perhaps more importantly it creates an easy to use interface for navigating pages that where clearly designed for much larger monitors. This is the piece that really makes the difference. It renders the page in its entirety in a zoomed out view. From there the user can simply double click on an area to zoom in. Once zoomed in you can simply move around the page, or zoom out as necessary.

This combination, if unopposed may help vault Safari into a prominent position.

I just discovered a great way to watch the election results come in while hearing what other techies are thinking.  If you are reading this after Super Tuesday I suggest you book mark the link and take a look at it in November.

See what I am talking about over at Google Maps

Ever wonder who funds all the Web2.0 companies such as Digg.com and Facebook.com? Well these guys are responsible for several good ones, Greylock.