Raising Linux To Grow Open Source

The biggest driving factor for software developers to work together with open source is cost. It is much cheaper for them to cooperate through open source than it is to remain isolated with proprietary software, asserted Inktank VP of Product Management Neil Levine. "You can no longer rely on one particular vendor to provide everything you need with regard to technology."

The open source business model has an inherent ability to bring software rivals together for mutual gain. This approach to developing and distributing software keeps expanding the usefulness and success of the Linux operating system as well.

Linux has not yet come close to replacing Windows on the desktop, but open source is much more than Linux. Its "co-opetive" nature is spreading through the enterprise as much as it is driving the many different Linux development communities.

The continued growth of open source software is closely linked with the ongoing struggle to bring about an expansion of the Linux footprint. Certainly one unifying factor in bringing together the various competing entities is the leadership provided by the Linux Foundation and other umbrella organizations.