The Forrester Wave™: Open Source Projects, Q2 2006

Forrester evaluated 13 leading open source software projects across approximately 40 criteria and found that six of the projects stand out as examples of excellence. The strongest Leaders are MySQL, Eclipse IDE, Apache HTTP Server, Apache Tomcat, JBoss Application Server, and PHP — thanks to their strong governance, well-defined road maps and release plans, and large and active communities. These six projects are followed closely in the Leaders category by Hibernate and Apache Velocity, the former because of its wide usage and strong support, and the latter because of its maturity and stability. Strong Performers are PostgreSQL and Spring Framework, both of which have capable leadership, active communities, and good presence in the market but don't have some of the benefits that a strong commercial supporter can provide. Although they trail PostgreSQL and Spring Framework, Apache Struts, Apache Cocoon, and Apache Geronimo projects are also Strong Performers. Nevertheless, Apache Struts is being eclipsed by newer technologies, such as Spring Framework and JavaServer Faces; Apache Cocoon appeals to a limited audience; and Apache Geronimo is a relative newcomer that only released its first version at the beginning of 2006.