Mike Dover | 08 May 2024
The World of Open Source Global Spotlight study, now in its third year, continues the Linux Foundation’s annual investigation into open source trends around the world. This year's focus includes the use and consumption of open source software (OSS), patterns of contribution, the value proposition of open source, and its sustainability as the community continues to face regulatory, geopolitical, and cybersecurity hurdles.
Contribute your perspective to our survey, give back to your community, and level up your career! LF Research will donate to the Linux Foundation's Travel Fund for the first 300 complete responses, up to $3,000 USD. This fund creates opportunities for diverse open source contributors to attend events around the world. You'll also receive a 30% discount on any Linux Foundation e-learning training course or certification exam (some conditions apply).
As in previous years, the survey aims to gather important insights into OSS adoption, investment, perceptions, and trends. It includes questions about:
- Priority areas for further investment in open source;
- Strategies to improve OSS project sustainability;
- Opinions on whether software developed with public funds should be open source; and
- Perceptions of OSS security compared with closed source software.
The survey also explores trends regarding government adoption of open source, funding for commercial open source start-ups, academic education, and individual incentives for OSS maintainers. It concludes by assessing perceptions of the legal landscape for open source and opinions on whether OSS fosters better software security.
Last year’s Global Spotlight report delivered some key findings that have helped our community align with current perceptions of open source around the world and build strategy to address the gaps and trends that this study brought to light. Some key insights included:
Open source is widespread. Despite some regional differences, the global average of organizations that use open source is up to 90%. Our findings indicated that there is a clear pro–open source stance around the world when it comes to usage.
There is a policy asymmetry between the use of and contribution to open source. Despite this high percentage of use, there are markedly less permissive policies for contributing to open source projects than there are for using them. This asymmetry was found across regions.
Addressing this asymmetry is important for a number of reasons, not least in that greater open source software contributions lead to improved software quality, according to the majority of survey respondents.
Are you interested in seeing this year’s results? Your input is crucial, and it should only take 10 minutes of your time!