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Open Source Growing At an Exponential Rate

Posted by Soulskill on from the gaining-ground dept.

sipmeister writes "Two computer scientists who work for enterprise software giant SAP have shown that open source is growing at an exponential rate. Not only is the code base growing exponentially, but also the number of viable projects. Researchers Amit Deshpande and Dirk Riehle analyzed the database of open source startup ohloh.net and looked at the last 16 years of growth in open source. They consistently got the best fit for the data using an exponential model. Relating this to open source market revenue, Desphande and Riehle conclude that open source is eating into closed source at a non-trivial pace."

4 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. I for one by setagllib · · Score: 5, Funny

    I for one welcome our new open source overlords :)

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    Sam ty sig.
  2. Competition by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Relating this to open source market revenue, Desphande and Riehle conclude that open source is eating into closed source at a non-trivial pace.

    Welcome to competition. Open Source tends to cover the areas where software is well established and should be commoditized. As much as we'd all like to keep charging $250 a copy for a library to unzip files, technology marches on. Commercial providers of technology must work harder to win the dollars of their customer. And I for one think the results can only be positive.

    What's particularly interesting to note is that web services are the latest craze in software development. The idea is that the value is not so much in the software itself, but in the service provided. This means that both using and supporting Open Source development can help these companies deliver real value to their customers rather than twiddling their thumbs on problems that are long-solved.
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    Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  3. And what exponent? by winmine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Seriously, don't get the cynical mathematicians on /. going about hyperbole like "exponential rates".

    Well, the exponent could be negative, did you think about that? Huh??

  4. Re:Viral License? by jrumney · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can make up hypothetical situations as much as you like, the fact is that if a library is useful, and there has been a GPLed library available for years, then someone somewhere will be selling a commercial library that does the same thing, which you can use in your proprietary project. Even if that were not true, there is no sense in crying about the fact that you can't profit from other people's software without giving something back.