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10 open source predictions for 2018

By Marilyn de Villiers
Johannesburg, 13 Dec 2017

With 2017 just about done and dusted, dozens of open source experts have polished their crystal balls and made predictions about what can be expected in the open source space in 2018.

Now it's our turn. (With fingers firmly crossed) here are 10 open source trends that you may - or may not - see coming to the fore next year. Some are obvious, some are frivolous, and some could just change your life.

1) This one seems pretty obvious but open source repository GitHub has placed this near the top of its 2018 predictions: open source will keep climbing the stack. Black Duck says that while almost everyone uses open source - it's currently found in around 95% of applications - this figure is likely to edge closer to 100% by the end of 2018.

2) New open source technologies, like Kubernetes, will become increasingly integral to developers' workflows.

3) There will be even more digital disruption in 2018 and open source will be the driving force behind most of the technologically disruptive innovations that will occur in the next 12 months.

4) Security will be bigger than ever in 2018. It will increasingly be built into code development, not added in production in an effort to counter the unabating flow of malware attacks. In addition, more intelligent security systems will come to the fore.

5) A world where anything and everything is available "as a service" (XAAS) is not far away. Software as a service (SAAS), infrastructure as a service (IAAS), and platform as a service (PAAS) will be joined by new cloud-based models, such as network as a service (NAAS), storage as a service (SAAS or STAAS), monitoring as a service (MAAS), and communications as a service (CAAS) along with a growing number of "bricks and mortar" services like Uber and Airbnb.

6) 2017 has been the year of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the advancements are going to accelerate. Gartner predicts new open source intelligent solutions are set to change the way people interact with systems and transform the very nature of work.

7) In 2018, expect machine learning and AI to give machines the ability to learn and improve from experience without a programmer explicitly coding the instruction.

8) Container technology, with the open source Docker leading the way, will become even more widely used. Forrester predicts that the application containers market is likely to grow by 40% by 2020.

9) The complexities association with OpenStack will reduce and this cloud operating system that provides the ability to provision and control huge computing, storage and networking resources through an intuitive and user-friendly dashboard will finally come into its own.

10) Finally, the drones. Patrick Carey of Black Duck says that as the drone community has been sharing its code on the Web for all to use, share, and improve, we are likely to see more and more utilisation of drones in all kinds of situations.

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