Open Sources | Rodrigues & Urlocker » The numbers behind Open Source

April 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)

The numbers behind Open Source

TAGS: Open Source

David Wheeler has been keeping a comprehensive list of quantitative data on using open source software / free software as a reasonable or even superior approach to using their proprietary competition.

A snippet of the conclusions: OSS/FS has significant market share in many markets, is often the most reliable software, and in many cases has the best performance. OSS/FS scales, both in problem size and project size. OSS/FS software often has far better security, perhaps due to the possibility of worldwide review. Total cost of ownership for OSS/FS is often far less than proprietary software, especially as the number of platforms increases. These statements are not merely opinions; these effects can be shown quantitatively, using a wide variety of measures. This doesn’t even consider other issues that are hard to measure, such as freedom from control by a single source, freedom from licensing management (with its accompanying risk of audit and litigation), Organizations can transition to OSS/FS in part or in stages, which for many is a far more practical transition approach.

Posted by Dave Rosenberg on April 16, 2007 08:50 PM

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