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Business Open Source Use Up 26% in One Year
CBR is reporting that open source use in the workplace is continuing to grow at an astonishing rate. Up 26% since last year, businesses are using 94 different open source tools to get the job done. "[OpenLogic's] breakdown of licenses for the top 25 packages found that Apache, not the GPL, is the most common license. 62% of the packages use Apache, 27% use some variant of GPL and 4% each use BSD, CPL, Eclipse, MPL and Perl licenses (since packages may be released under two or more licenses, percentages total to more than 100%).
From the article:
"Enterprises on average used a whopping 94 different open source packages last year, compared to 75 in 2006..."
If yestdrday's post was correct, 26% of .08%. Of course we're talking not just Linux here of course ;)
However, as I pointed ot then, it's impossible to measure OSS use. OSS use by businesses would be pretty damned inaccurate, but wouldn't be as "out of my orifice" as desktop Linux use.
Clemons (Twain for those who like pseudonyms) spoke of three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
I read somewhere that something like 90% of large companies use free and open source software somewhere in their business.
This probably isn't on their desktop machines of course. It is more likely to be things like web. dns and email servers, and network routers.
Apache license != Apache web server
After a lot of testing and benchmarking we moved our Oracle databases (OLTP and DWH) to Postgresql. We also looked at MySQL, by the way. Our production servers were migrated in August 2007 and so far everything has been very stable. It's too soon to really tell, but there is a feeling it is more stable than our previous Oracle setup.
Surely not. Apache can do a lot more than merely serve PHP apps.
Obviously, it can serve any static files all on its own, and it can serve any other type of CGI as well (C, shell, Perl, Python, Ruby, the list goes on). Apache Tomcat is a enterprise-level Java server, and I suspect this is where a large amount of the corporate usage falls under. Apache can also be used as a WebDAV server, it can be used as a Subversion server too.
PHP is a hobbyist thing, not a corporate thing.
Random and weird software I've written.
"Enterprises on average used a whopping 94 different open source packages last year, compared to 75 in 2006..."
So they have more choice. They don't necessarily use them more often. It's like saying that you doubled the tools used because you took the screwdriver - but you simply used it once... Am I getting this right?
Of Code And Men
Is it possible that Microsoft will come to regret paying a premium for a business position in an industry it has yet to master, despite extraordinary expenditures (on-line revenue generation). Looky at how much ground Microft must make up to catch Google:
/.'s fp:
Rank Search Engine Volume
1. www.google.com 65.98%
2. search.yahoo.com 20.88%
3. search.msn.com 5.33%
4. www.ask.com 4.14%
http://www.hitwise.com/datacenter/searchengineanalysis.php
Note that msn searches have declined despite significant investment by the borg in pumping up its performance. There is strong reason to believe that Microsoft will not be able to tie its Yahoo properties to its Microosft Windows and Microsoft Office monopolies, and there is not a single one of Microsoft's properties that have succeeded to drive significantly scaled revenue unless it is tied to the Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office monopolies. Halo was a huge seller, but them Microsoft sold off the Bungie, the creator of Halo, on October 1, 2007 after milking the cow dry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungie_Studios
Microsoft took a $1 billion hit on the X-box:
http://www.news.com/Microsoft-to-extend-Xbox-360-warranty,-take-1-billion-hit/2100-1014_3-6195058.html
The X-box was wildy outsold by Wii. MSNBC is popular but not a huge money maker. There is simply nothing outside the Microsoft Windows / Microsoft Office monopoly that shows signs of supporting Microsoft's stock is down 6.35% at the moment on the day, despite the Yahoo announcement. MSFT's stock is trading at $30.51, meaning that it is right back down in the same dolldrums where it has been since Q3 2003 , with no intervening splits!
There are lots of analysts talking about a glut of Vista machines, and wondering if CompUSA's bk might be the canary in Microsoft's coal mine. Microsoft's recent report of a 67% increase on its net reflects ADVANCE SALES of Vista licenses which Microsoft imposes on its vendors. If its vendors are overstocked with Vista machines, you wonder how much more Microsoft can cram down the pipeline in coming quarters.
In the meantime, Linux and Unix boxes have been selling very well on Amazon.com and swept all the categories for Amazon for 2007. From a recent story on
http://linux.slashdot.org/linux/07/12/29/1959244.shtml
"Computers and handheld devices running default GNU Linux or Unix OSes have swept Amazon's 'best of' list for 2007, according BusinessWire.com for 28 December 2007. Best selling computer? The Nokia Internet Tablet PC, running Linux. Best reviewed computer? The Apple MacBook Pro notebook PC. Most wished for computer? Asus Eee 4G-Galaxy 7-inch PC mobile Internet device, which comes with Xandros Linux pre-installed. And last, but not least, the most frequently gifted computer: The Apple MacBook notebook PC."
Sure, MSFT is powerful, but with this Yahoo acquisition, they are taking on premium-weighted debt, and it really raises a question as to whether that asset will justify the premium. Yahoo has been declining, and it is not clear that the mere acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft will succeed where Microsoft has failed in all of their other non-Windows-Office monopoly. That is the $44 billion dollar question, IMHO.
Just because you use Apache HTTP server doesn't mean you are running PHP. Apache can be used to serve all kinds of dynamic content. For example:
Apache -> Tomcat (Java)
Apache -> Mongrel (ruby on rails)
Apache -> CGI (whatever)
I would guess that Apache/Tomcat/Jboss installs are more common than PHP in commercial enterprises.
As others have mentioned there are tons of projects using the Apache license. Spamassassin is a good example.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
Perhaps the start of a recession (or recession talk) is leading to a second and third look at the question "could we get away with using FOSS software in this task?". Training costs are one thing. But, in a deep enough recession, people are looking to save their jobs. They'll learn whatever they are told to learn, and they'll do it on their own time (go read the FOSS community pages/wiki if need be). Those that can't, well, will be the first to be furloughed.
I am in a "graduate" program where we frequently get projects that require photo manipulation, presentations, etc. They also require us to work in groups. Since not everyone is from my same company we don't always have access to the same software to collaborate. I've been using this as an excuse to introduce people to things like GIMP and OpenOffice. The appeal of a free program that gets the specific tasks done that we need is pretty compelling. I don't know how many of them pass this kind of information on, but I know a few of them have gotten hooked.
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
It also happens to be 25%, not 26%. But, yeah, that's an absurd statistic.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
This may be a stretch, but after Microsoft Vista, I think the business community could be losing confidence in Microsoft's future. They might fear that if they use MS products, they could lose support and there would be no one left to assume liability.
Well, Asus alone plans to sell about 50% more Eee PCs (5 million) than Apple sells Macs (3 million) in 2008. So this is the year when Linux desktop sales may equal or exceed Linux server sales. If you count all Linux devices, then Linux is actually the most popular OS ever, with about 300 million Linux devices sold each year. If we assume a typical life of 5 years for embedded devices routers and cell phones, then there should be at least 1.5 billion Linux devices out there, compared to about 600 million Windows devices.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Not only is the summary is extremely misleading, it links to an equally misleading blog post with no direct link to TFA, which I found here
Caveat Utilitor
At my workplace, they approved a few different open source applications, FlashDevelop for the eLearning Flash content, Audacity, and Eclipse for some of the Web development. I'm sure there were a couple others. Though, I somehow don't think these types of software are counted in the OP survey or I'd think it would be a higher number.
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
According to TFA it's the number of free software packages that's "up 26%", not business use of free software.
Bad submitter, bad!!!.
Bad editors, bad! Bad!
Caveat Utilitor
"It's easy to get really messy [insert language here] code when you start building something big/complex."
There. Fixed that for ya. :-)
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-The world would be a better place if everyone had a hoverboard