Applied Logic says it is one of only two companies in the world chosen by Massachusetts-based database and development tool firm Progress Software to develop source code for an open source initiative.
The Progress Open Source Software Exchange (POSSE) initiative, announced last year, aims to release Progress’s application development environment as open source code. The company is to make the source code available for all of its version 9.1B application development tools.
Auckland-based Applied Logic and a South African company were chosen from among 2000 Progress independent software vendors (ISVs) and application service providers worldwide to work on the source code on POSSE. The 15-employee company has four staff working on the project with two visiting Progress developers. Applied Logic is also helping develop the open source framework for the project. Other participants in POSSE can help track bugs, offer suggestions and voice opinions once the source code is out, planned for some time next year. Once the code is released Progress developers will be able to review and modify the development tools.
Applied Logic general manager of business development Penny Boland says one of the reasons the company was chosen was because it has been developing web-based modules for its flagship financials suite Realtime. Applied Logic professional services general manager Catheryn Roseweir says before undertaking the conversion the company spent 18 months researching the best tools and methodologies for transforming legacy software to web-based applications and it’s this knowledge that’s being used to develop the open source code.
Progress says because open source software is exposed to extreme scrutiny through peer-review, it is more stable than proprietary software. It says another effect of the open source model is that its development tools will be exposed to a broader market.