The strengths of open source software including the attributes of the collective contribution model and advantageous pricing have been understood by the open source and Linux community as well as savvy enterprises for some time. But now with the difficult economy, open source software is gaining increasingly broad acceptance among enterprise customers, writes Darryl K. Taft writes in a recent eWeek article.
Citing the IDC study, "Worldwide Open Source Software 2009-2013 Forecast," Taft says worldwide revenue from open source software is expected to grow at a 22.4% rate to reach $8.1 billion by 2013. The forecast is higher than 2008 because this study included more open source projects than the previous year's study, but also because open source software has gained significantly more acceptance over the past year than expected, and the recession fueled interest in and adoption of open source software in the latter part of 2008, Taft explains.
To read the article, go here.