Readers' Choice Awards 2010

MySQL

Honorable Mention: PostgreSQL

We'll have to do something about the LAMP acronym if you ever give up MySQL, which remains your choice for Best Database three years running. Nevertheless, we've seen a bit of erosion in support for MySQL toward your honorable mention pick of PostgreSQL, which has gained ground every year. SQLite may soon find itself on the board with the heavy hitters if it keeps climbing as well.

rsync

Honorable Mention: tar

Here's one case where we retrenched and reduced our categories, namely combining Best Backup System and Best Backup Utility into a single category called Best Backup Solution. Your choice for champion in this category was rsync, the winner of Best Backup Utility in 2009, followed by tar. Last year's winner and honorable mention in the Best Backup System category, Amanda and Bacula, respectively, also fared well in the votes.

VirtualBox

Honorable Mention: VMware

If we had an award for Most Upwardly Mobile Linux Solution, it just might be VirtualBox. You've been favoring VirtualBox more and more with each passing year, such that a full 55% of you chose it as Best Virtualization Solution this year, which is up an impressive 23% from last year and more than double VMware's result of 23%.

Nagios

Honorable Mention: Zabbix

When speaking of upwardly mobile Linux apps, we should include Zabbix in the same breath, the classic monitoring application that could. Coming out of the tiny country of Latvia, the enterprise-class monitoring solution Zabbix went from also-ran last year to contender this year in the category Best Monitoring Application. Of course, let's not forget that 34% of you still favor the winner Nagios. However, Nagios is down 17% from last year's tally. Zabbix definitely is worth keeping on your radar.

git

Honorable Mention: Apache Subversion

Your two top picks for the Best Revision Control System are this year's winner, git, and last year's winner (and this year's sole honorable mention), Apache Subversion. In case you haven't done so already, you might want to investigate the origins of git, which was created by Linus Torvalds. The source of its name will give you a chuckle.

Python

Honorable Mention: C++

Despite the tough field of contenders, Guido van Rossum's Python won Best Programming Language for the second straight year. Your votes came down nearly exactly the same as last year, with C++ in second place.

Python

Honorable Mention: PHP

Two years ago, we tried to make our own distinction as to which languages were programming languages and which were scripting languages. We set up an elaborate set of criteria and attempted to justify our position. Well, you didn't appreciate our micromanagement, so we scrapped that idea for good. Now you decide which is which, and you have decided that Python is both the best programming language and scripting language out there.

Eclipse

Honorable Mention: KDevelop

Eclipse is batting 1.000 in the Best IDE category, winning both of its two years in existence. You've told us you like how Eclipse lets you work in a lean environment and add and subtract an incredible array of functionality via plugins.

Puppet

Honorable Mention: OpenQRM

The new category Best Open-Source Configuration Management Tool turned out to be one of the most crowded fields, yet Puppet Labs' Puppet application managed to pull ahead of the pack. Perhaps it's how Puppet considers each piece of infrastructure as code that has helped you simplify new configurations and helped reduce the time you spend on mundane tasks.