Open source -- apps lag OS?

Forrester research has found that open source applications are doing less well than the Linux operating system in enterprises.

On one level that's obvious - There's a lot more awareness of Linux than there is of applications (unless you count firefox, of course). And for many people Linux is the start.

"For Linux and all other open source software, service/support and security remain the two top concerns among enterprises. If open source is going to continue to be an important tactical tool, the open source ecosystem must address these concerns," Forrester said, in the study, which spoke to 2500 enterprise and SMB "decision makers" in Europe and the US.

Why the distinction between "Linux" and "open source"? What seems to have happened is this. Forrester decided to treat Linux separately this time, so it's not a new result, just something that was revealed by new treatment of the figures.

More interestingly, the survey says "open source is not a high priority among strategic software initiatives, appearing to be more of a tactic..."

In other words, users aren't adopting open source for idealistic reasons, but because of what it does. And what it does is increasingly strategic. They use products and don't care if they are open source.

And they may not even know they are open source. Some users might think they are steering away from open source because they perceive a risk there - but are they?

"Forrester has reason to believe that many application development professionals are not aware of how much open source software is contained within commercially licensed products they are currently using.

"If you are using Java, then chances are that somewhere in your platform there is open source. Being aware of its presence will help you leverage the larger collection of open source software more effectively."