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Open Source Part of Mainstream IT in Canada
Sxip writes "A recent survey of advanced technology companies indicates that Open Source software is becoming an explicit component in enterprise Information Technology (IT) strategy and architecture. Some nine out of ten respondents include Open Source in their planning."
....Rely on it. The online edition I work for has just as many Linux boxen as Windows boxen. And only 1/2 of them are serving pages. The only ones using Windows is us journalists and the suits. And we journalists could have done it with Linux as well. Although I prefer to do it (the writing, pervert! ;) with MacOS X
Well, this all depends on the perspective:
Open source is an integral part of the enterprise environment these days in larger organizations, but that doesnt mean that its "linux on every desktop".
Working as a developer for a very large global consulting firm, I can say that the way open source is penetrating enterprises is by being "parts of the machinery", for example, if you are developing custom applications, it is almost unavoidable to use open source components such as Struts, Dom4j and tools like jUnit, Ant etc.
But we are still some distance from "open source dominating the environments", open source is gaining traction mostly in the areas where the developers have a big say in what is chosen. When it comes to the choice of "backbone platform", this is still very much a management choice of commercial platforms.
43% of respondents weren't home.
39% of respondents pretended they weren't home.
20% of respondents were unsure/undecided.
Margin of error was 2%
Unknown host pong.
Okay, I know this is the typical response but it has to be said: Where the $#@ is the credibility in this piece?
There is no information on how the people being surveyed were selected and how they were surveyed. I always find it suspicious at the least and downright misleading at the worst when people do their own surveys without revealing the details of data collection. A sample size would be nice.
It doesn't have to be super-detailed for the press release but it ought to at least say "Through out Internet survey to 100 of our members" would at least give context to their results.
If it's skewed I want to know. If it's accurate, I want to know that too.
Sunny
Be my Friend
Technically, don't MOST companies include open source in their planning? I mean after the widely publicized MS discounts given after the mention of anything Open Source, you'd at least try to leverage that.
The cynic in me thinks the term "Open Source" is used more as a bargaining tool than anything that gets implemented. I'm not sure I like that idea.
...we use open-source software for nearly everything at the datacenter, and on a few desktops in the office (GAIM has made inroads among the marketing staff, and I run a GNOME desktop). Our attempts to use commercial software have usually meant restrictions that we couldn't live with (we tried using Zeus for our hosting customers and ended up trashing it and using Apache 2.0 because we couldn't extend it as we wanted to. Expensive mistake!)
The only commercial software we are seriously looking at on the server side right now is Caucho Resin Enterprise - it definitely beats out Tomcat for our purposes.
It just seems to be the default here. If you run a company, open source is the first option. Everybody worth hiring has a background in Unixish operating systems and open tools. Resumes from people with Microsoft credentials tend to end up in the circular file unless they have some serious programming achievements under their belts and at least _some_ familiarity with common open software.
I guess two of the three Canadian moderators are upset.
There goes the karma.
OSS has more traction than you think, friend. It's the best friend I have right now, and I'm a hardware monkey/network admin/IT manager.
Open source is an integral part of the enterprise environment these days in larger organizations, but that doesnt mean that its "linux on every desktop".
Agreed, except for the "in larger organisations" part. I do the above job for a not so large outfit, and Open Source is something I try to employ as much as possible.
But we are still some distance from "open source dominating the environments", open source is gaining traction mostly in the areas where the developers have a big say in what is chosen. When it comes to the choice of "backbone platform", this is still very much a management choice of commercial platforms.
Open source may not be deployed everywhere in my company (yet), but it does affect any decision I make - in a round about way, it does dominate the environment. "Do I need to pay this company licensing fees, or is there an OSS equivalent package that will do it for less?" is something I muse every day on he job. I manage infrastructure, and right now, I'm deploying Linux as the backbone of my network, replacing a proprietary systems that adds no value when compared to the OSS alternative. I'm not a developer (any code I write shows it, too), but I like having the OSS clue stick to apply to the heads of any arrogant vendors (Quark, you are sooooo next in line for lumber off the forehead). The threat of OSS to thier bottom line is extremely valuable to me in keeping costs down and vendors honest.
IMHO, one of the main reasons that OSS exists is because some developers got a little too full of themselves and in thier arrogance pissed off the wrong people - end users like me. If most people weren't willing to actually use OSS, it simply would not be as pervasive as it is.
Soko
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
Trolling aside, you can interview 9 out of 10 business in Canada and they will chant Linux till the cops beat them up. But the missing #10 is the most important: Government. Canada is really just a big awkward government with a nice back yard, and Gov't is dead scared of free software, for several reasons that were hammered into my skull the hard way:
1. It's built by "evil hackers"
2. Since it's free, Mr CIO can't farm it out as a big money contract to one of his mates, or one-up that and hire them all under his wings as 'consultants'.
3. Since it's free, there is no one being paid to answer the phone when stuff breaks.
4. Billco likes Linux, and Gov't doesn't like Billco; therefore Gov't doesn't like Linux.
Ok so I pulled #4 out of my ass. The other 3 are still quite true. I'm not taking stabs at the PM either, even though he's in deep dog-poo for doing #2 (and getting caught), but like anything it's far too easy to spend other people's money irresponsibly.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Almost all major companies use "Open Source" all over the place. They have for years, decades even.
The only difference might be that the muppets who think they are in charge now have to have an "open source stratagem", mainly because "Open Source" is now a brand all of it's own.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
Yeah, they work for Corel, Alias, Hummingbird, MKS, Cognos, Zero Knowledge, Blackberry, Nothern Telecom ...
Yeah can you please send a few of your american developers up here?
We can make the code but we just can't seem to produce the same quantity of bugs as you guys do. I mean administering a system is just no fun without panicking over a patch every couple days and we would really appreciate if you could show us how to make such buggy code so our users can enjoy the same level of patching as yours!
I stole this Sig