From maverick to mainstream: why open source software is now indispensable for modern business

Older, more established ways of doing things simply don't measure up any longer

Free and open source software has a long and intriguing history. Some of its roots go all the way back to the 1980s when Richard Stallman first launched the GNU project. Stallman was frustrated by the growing trend toward proprietary software with restrictive licensing, where access to source code was being increasingly withheld from users. The GNU project's objective was to deliver an operating system free from any constraints on the use of its source code. It also created a new "open source" public licensing concept to guarantee users the freedom to run, share and modify the software as they wished.

It was against this backdrop that Linus Torvalds developed and released the first Linux kernel in 1991, while he was still a student at the University of Helsinki. Amazingly, that was almost 30 years ago. What started out simply as a computer science project has now truly taken off. Today, Linux and the Linux kernel are at the core of the majority of devices and systems we rely on every day. That includes mobile phones to supercomputers, and everything inbetween. And with Linux as its vanguard, open source software and solutions has grown to become a dominant player in the IT world.

Cloud & Infrastructure Live 2019 returns to London on 19th September 2019. Learn about the latest technologies in cloud, how to keep one step ahead of the regulators, and network with an audience of IT leaders and senior IT pros. The event will include keynotes, panel discussions, case studies, and strategic and technical streams. Best of all, the event is FREE to qualifying attendees. Secure your place now.

Given its somewhat maverick and geeky heritage, there may be a tendency to approach open source solutions with a little caution or wariness, especially by those in more conventional business sectors. However, open source has now grown and matured into something quite different. It definitely still has the potential to cause disruption, but that's because it's often right at the forefront of virtually all of today's innovative technology trends.

Open source is now so prevalent and widely accepted that 96 percent of all application codebases include open source elements, with open source representing 60 per cent of the total code. Industry analysts suggest that over 90 per cent of IT organisations are now using open source software in their mission-critical workloads.

Why open source has become crucial for modern business

Almost every modern organisation is having to deal with challenging and rapidly changing market conditions. They need the agility to adapt and quickly respond to new customer demands and unexpected shifts in the competitive landscape.

The reality is that the older, more established ways of doing things simply don't measure up any longer. Traditional IT infrastructures are too rigid, slow and cumbersome. Software-defined infrastructures are increasingly providing the flexible IT plumbing needed for our smarter, high-tech and increasingly digital environments. More and more solutions are being deployed or migrated to cloud platforms. New technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, Virtual Reality and robotics are delivering the automation, efficiency improvements and cost savings every business thrives on.

But why is open source so crucial?

Partly because it now dominates practically all of these top technology trends. But also because it's at the heart of cloud-native solutions and most of the leading software-defined infrastructures. Simply put, it's the go-to software model for modern collaborative innovation and agility. Customers, users and organisations all have a stake in open source communities. They can all drive the agenda, define the deliverables, set the roadmap and contribute to the outcomes.

Enterprise IT is no longer the exclusive domain of proprietary software. Open source is increasingly trusted and valued, even by large organisations. Recent research shows that over 80 per cent of them are more receptive to open source now than they were five years ago.

Of course, embracing an open source approach is not without some hurdles to overcome. It will involve cultural and organisational changes, as well as investment. That's why 83 per cent of hiring managers say that recruiting open source talent is a priority, with Linux ranked as the most in-demand open source expertise they're seeking.

What does the future hold?

There's little doubt that open source is here to stay. The potential business benefits make that a certainty. What organisation isn't on the lookout for more agility, lower risk of technology lock-in, lower costs, faster time-to-market, improved security, rapid issue resolution, wider choice, and greater flexibility?

However, we have to add to that list the extraordinary degree of innovation that can be generated from within open source communities and projects. This guarantees open source will remain a key factor in all the leading technology trends of the future.

Linux, OpenStack, Kubernetes, Ceph and Cloud Foundry are just a few examples of open source projects that have already reached the level of maturity and wide-spread adoption that classes them as indisputably mainstream. There are plenty more open source projects on the horizon that will deliver even more advanced functionality, helping to further expand the entire open source solution landscape.

Matt Eckersall is regional director EMEA West at SUSE