Protecode: Open Source Code Will Power 95 Pct. of Companies by 2017

Almost all—95 percent, in fact—of companies will be using open source software by 2017, and the adoption of third-party open source code is increasing steadily. Those are among the key findings in a new report from Protecode on open source software.

Christopher Tozzi, Contributing Editor

October 8, 2015

2 Min Read
Protecode: Open Source Code Will Power 95 Pct. of Companies by 2017

Almost all—95 percent, in fact—of companies will be using open source software by 2017 and the adoption of third-party open source code is increasing steadily. Those are among the key findings in a new report from Protecode on open source software.

The report, which the company released in the form of an infographic, draws attention to several trends that affect the open source space:

  • Forty percent of developers report that they have projects that are behind schedule.

  • Automation software reduces the costs and complexity of managing open source code, especially by reducing the number of developers it requires.

  • Code is growing more complex than ever, with—and here's the interesting bit—automotive software leading the pack. (Protecode was not specific in defining which automotive software it surveyed.)

  • More industries are incorporating open source code into their products, with the medical devices industry topping the list.

  • As noted, 95 percent of companies will be using open source code by 2017.

Some of these findings—such as the fact that automation makes software management easier—are not surprising. But the report offers a bit of quantitative insight on other important issues, including the rate of adoption of open source code.

More generally, the report is interesting because it suggests that the complexity and sluggishness of open source development are increasing as open source assumes an ever-greater presence in the IT world. Historically, one of the main selling points of open source development was that it tended to privilege a "bazaar"-style development model, in which deadlines and centralized orchestration were less important than rapid coding and testing.

Now, the fact that more open source developers report being behind schedule, while at the same time organizations are concerned with managing code in a presumably centralized way, suggests that "cathedral"-style approaches are gaining greater sway.

Protecode specializes in code management solutions, especially those involving legal obligations, security vulnerabilities, IP ownership and quality attributes.

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About the Author

Christopher Tozzi

Contributing Editor

Christopher Tozzi started covering the channel for The VAR Guy on a freelance basis in 2008, with an emphasis on open source, Linux, virtualization, SDN, containers, data storage and related topics. He also teaches history at a major university in Washington, D.C. He occasionally combines these interests by writing about the history of software. His book on this topic, “For Fun and Profit: A History of the Free and Open Source Software Revolution,” is forthcoming with MIT Press.

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