A look back at the open source victories of 2008, Arstechnica

The past year brought some exciting advancements for the Linux operating system and open source software. Open technology continues to become more pervasive and the Linux kernel is now widely used in a multitude of mainstream products ranging from set-top boxes to mobile phones. With 2008 coming to a close, we wanted to take a minute to look at some events of significance to the open source software community.

Mozilla releases Firefox 3

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser is one of the most successful and widely-known open source software applications. The popular browser continued its ascent this year with the official launch of Firefox 3, which attracted a record-setting 8 million downloads in the first 24 hours. The release was widely reported in the mainstream press and even got the coveted Colbert Bump.

Google releases Chrome

Google also dropped a browser bombshell this year with the launch of Chrome, its own open source WebKit-based browser for Windows. Chrome delivered some excellent innovations, including a process isolation system and a built-in task manager that allows users to view the resource consumption of individual tabs. Google has pushed Chrome forward at a rapid pace and has closed some of the remaining feature gaps by introducing a complete bookmark manager and other capabilities. The browser exited beta earlier this month and could soon land preinstalled on hardware from major manufacturers.

Android platform arrives on handsets

Another major open source move by Google this year was the launch of the company’s Linux-based Android platform for mobile phones. Although Android got off to a rocky start and the flagship G1 device imposed some disappointing limitations, Google made things right by releasing special developer models. The platform source code is now fully available and Google has begun to accept patches.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090102-alook-back-at-the-open-source-victories-of-2008.html