Here's a look at 10 open-source software tools - including software for building AI applications or managing huge volumes of data - that are already widely used or are gaining in popularity.

Open-source software tools continue to increase in popularity because of the multiple advantages they provide including lower upfront software and hardware costs, lower total-cost-of-ownership, lack of vendor lock-in, simpler license management and support from active communities.

In the following slides, as part of the CRN 2024 Year In Review project, we take a look at some of the most popular open-source software products that have caught our attention this year. Some of these have been around for some time and are already widely used while others are relatively new - a couple just making their debut in the last year or so - but show early signs of momentum.

Not surprisingly, the wave of AI and generative AI application development is a major driver for open-source software adoption. Some of the products on this list are in the software development space or help answer the need to manage the huge volumes of data that feed AI systems.

These products are available under open-source licenses such as the MIT License, Apache 2.0 License, GNU GPL and others. Some are products developed by startups that have received financial investments from Y Combinator, the startup accelerator and venture capital firm.