Linux To Be the Fasted Growing Server OS
The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux® in the enterprise, today announced the completion of a global Linux market share and forecast study conducted by market research firm IDC that predicts the overall market revenue for desktops, servers, and packaged software running on Linux will exceed $35 billion by 2008.
Linux is a free Unix-type operating system originally created by Linus Torvalds with the assistance of developers around the world. Developed under the GNU General Public License, the source code for Linux is freely available to everyone.
The new study presents a measurement of shipments and the installed base of servers and PCs running Linux that takes into consideration Linux shipped with new hardware deliveries, Linux running aboard redeployed systems, and instances where Linux is used as a guest operating system. When this expanded view of the marketplace is considered, the resulting server market for shipments and redeployments with Linux is increased by 36% over net new shipments in 2004.
Another key finding of interest to independent software vendors and customers is predicted revenue growth for packaged applications and infrastructure software running on Linux, a market opportunity IDC forecasts will exceed $14 billion in the next four years, growing at a 2003-2008 compound annual rate of more than 44 percent.
''When all manifestations of Linux operating systems are counted, Linux is clearly a mainstream solution,'' said Vernon Turner, group vice president and general manager of Enterprise Computing research at IDC. ''Today, IDC sees a shift where Linux server operating environment deployments are moving to favor the use of enterprise server hardware. This transition is being driven by the increasing robustness of Linux and the increasingly critical nature of the applications deployed on Linux.''
''Linux is forecast to be the fasted growing server operating system environment, and the overall Linux solution stack is growing at a commensurate rate,'' concluded Cohen. ''What this research shows is the significant and increasing influence of Linux on the enterprise IT marketplace.''
Source: OSDL
