Dive Brief:
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A survey released Wednesday by Black Duck Software and North Bridge found a 5% increase over the previous year in the number of companies that encourage their developers to contribute to open-source projects, according to a Network World report.
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Nearly two-third of the survey’s respondents said their developers were already contributing to such projects.
- Approximately 60% of respondents said they believe that participating in open-source projects gives them a competitive advantage.
Dive Insight:
The role of open source has been steadily growing over the last several years, and major tech players have released code under open-source licenses and devoted developer resources to various projects. In December, Apple announced it would make its Swift programming language open source. The announcement was big news for a company well-known for protecting its software and operating systems.
Open source is gaining momentum because it allows amateurs and professionals alike to make better software faster than ever before. And because it offers advantages in terms of cost, control and innovation, experts predict open source tools will soon be a much higher percentage of every IT organization’s environment.
The survey also found enterprises are dedicating more resources to open source endeavors. About a third of respondents said they have full-time resources dedicated to open-source projects, and that they increasingly view open-source software as "highly competitive on features, in addition to having lower total cost of ownership and the ability to avoid vendor lock-in."
"Open source today is unequivocally the engine of innovation," said North Bridge general partner Paul Santinelli in a statement. "Whether that’s powering technology like operating systems, cloud, big data or IoT, or powering a new generation of open source companies delivering compelling solutions to the market."
