details

The descriptor “open source” is primarily associated with software, the source code of which is freely accessible for examination, use, and expansion by users other than the developer. The practice started among early academic, corporate and government adopters and hit a major milestone in 1991 when Linus Torvalds released the Linux kernel.

Fast forward to the present and Torvalds’ open source operating system has been adapted for use in embedded components, routers, access points, devices and data center applications — all important aspects of generating, transmitting and receiving the huge amount of data produced by the booming Internet of Things.

One of the most important things to understand about how open source software (and hardware — more on that later) is a good fit with IoT is in the approach. Think of open source as a little bit like crowdsourcing information. Take Wikipedia, for example; the idea is that with numerous sets of stakeholders with different experiences, interests, and expertise, all working on the same problem, the outcome will improve.

read more at iot-for-all.com