* Looking at the open source world beyond Linux
This week our Special Focus takes a look at the open source world beyond Linux. Analysts say that in the move to cut costs and drive efficiencies, enterprise users are starting to get more serious about open source products such as JBoss, databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, the Apache Web server, the Samba file and print server, OpenOffice desktop software and others.
“The Uber trend is that organizations are trying to find cost reduction strategies that allow them to continue to do what they’re doing but do it at a lower cost structure,” says Dan Kusnetzky, vice president systems software at IDC.
Indeed, a Forrester survey of 140 North American firms earlier this year found that 46% of respondents are using open source software today and 14% have plans to bring open source into their data centers in the future. Thirty-nine percent of the companies said they had no plans for open source software, citing lack of skills and lack of support as the primary inhibitors.
There’s an obvious uptick in interst largely due to the growing acceptance of Linux within corporate data centers. In many cases, companies have become familiar with Linux, making them more amenable to moving up the stack within the open source community.
For more on this story see: https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/101804specialfocus.html
