OStatic

As has been true for quite some time now, economic malaise and the maturity of applications and platforms are continuing to boost the market for open source software. Those trends are also helping to build a healthy ecosystem for commercial open source companies, and enterprise adoption of open source. Today, market researchers at IDC are reporting on a new study that predicts that worldwide revenue from open source software will grow at a 22.4 percent compound annual growth rate to reach $8.1 billion by 2013. Here are some of the other key findings.

ITPro is reporting that System76, a company specializing in building Linux desktop, server and notebook systems saw a 61% revenue increase over the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008.

The revenue breakdowns aren't readily available (System76 is privately held, so public earnings reports aren't required), but the figure's significance stretches beyond the bottom line. It obviously suggests impressive growth for the company, and it isn't an unreasonable leap to imagine that other OEMS focusing on Linux-powered machines are seeing some degree of growth as well. The recession undoubtedly plays a role in this growth. But how much does it factor in really?

With all that goes on at conferences, it would seem that a white paper presentation would be, invariably, a pretty dry event -- with the document itself being even drier. While there are many topics in the Linux Foundation-sponsored IDC white paper, The Opportunity for Linux in a New Economy (linked here as a PDF), and one might choose to quickly skim the research, data and projections, this report is really well worth taking a close look through.

Overall, IDC is a projecting a rosy future for Linux-related growth in the enterprise, with a compound annual growth rate of 23.6% for the 2008-2013 period. The overall market is projected to experience a 5% growth rate over that same time frame.

Shortly after firing up my laptop, located just a hair closer to the State House in Boston than the Route 128 Technology Corridor that winds around Waltham, I stumbled across an opinion piece by Black Duck Software's Peter Vescuso for Mass High Tech on the financial benefits of open source. While Vescuso's Massachusetts-centric angle is due to Black Duck's location and the recent rumblings that the state is losing its tech edge, his points are pertinent to any geographic region and take a holistic look at the financial benefits of open source.

It got me thinking. Industries and markets are inextricably linked, and when one experiences a significant downturn, it ripples through connected markets, and the markets connected to those markets. Vescuso touches on the financial benefits of open source software -- the infrastructure is already there, established, and strong, and the open, accessible code eliminates wheel re-invention, allowing developers to innovate and experiment.

ZDNet's Chris Dawson has been thinking about Linux in the educational setting quite a bit lately, thanks to his school district's purchase of some new Intel Classmates, and the educational and financial benefits they bring.

Fueled by a piece he read in a recent openSUSE Education newsletter, he began pondering the ins and outs of open source software software adoption. Though he mentions Linux specifically, his thoughts transfer quite well to free software on closed platforms. Dawson asks if Linux is only for the poor -- if the economy wasn't in such a rough spot, would school districts (or businesses, or individuals) be moving to, or even seriously considering, open source platforms and alternatives?

It's a great question, and it's hard one for me to answer honestly. I know how I'd love to answer, and I know perfectly well that answer is unrealistic. Even if increased open source adoption in certain fields is primarily due to the dismal economy, it doesn't mean better financial times will lead to mass open source abandonment.