Listen: How ActiveState is tackling "dependency hell" by providing enterprise-level support for open source programming languages [Podcast]

"Open source back in the late nineties - and even throughout the 2000s - was really hard to use," ActiveState CEO Bart Copeland says. "Our job," he continues, "was to make it much easier for developers to use open source and much easier for enterprises to use open source."

How does ActiveState work?

But how does ActiveState actually do this?

Copeland explains:

"ActiveState is exactly like Red Hat. So what Red Hat did to Linux - providing enterprise-grade Linux distributions - ActiveState does for open source programming languages."

Clearly ActiveState is an interesting product that's playing an important part in helping enterprises to better manage the widespread migration to open source technology. For the latest edition of the Packt Podcast we spoke to Copeland about ActiveState and the growth of open source over the last decade. We think you'll find what he has to say interesting...

Listen:

https://soundcloud.com/packt-podcasts/activestate-making-open-source-more-accessible-for-the-enterprise-interview-with-bart-copeland

 

Read next: Can a modified MIT ‘Hippocratic License’ to restrict misuse of open source software prompt a wave of ethical innovation in tech?

Key quotes from Bart Copeland

Copeland on the relationship between enterprise management and developers:

"If you look at the enterprise… they want to make sure that it works and it doesn’t cause security threats and their in compliance with all the licenses. And the result is, due to the complexities of open source, management within the enterprise will often limit developers on what languages and what open source stacks they can use because the more stacks you have, the more complexity you have in an organization."

Copeland on developer freedom:

"A developer is a very technical and creative individual and they want to be able to use the right tools to build the right solution. And so if a developer is handcuffed to certain technology stacks, they may not be able to use the best technology to solve the problem."

Learn more about ActiveState here.