Screenshot of Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala"

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Many people may not think that they’re using open-source software in their businesses. But the truth is, most businesses today are already running open-source software somewhere within the organization — and in many of these companies, it’s being used quite broadly.

Of course, it wasn’t too long ago that the only open-source software you’d find in the companies was the Linux operating system and a handful of tools. But today, its open source everything.

So how pervasive is open source today? More than 2 billion phones and another billion PCs run Java™ technology. There are 12 million users of the MySQL™ database, with another 60,000 downloads occurring every day. There have been more than 14 million downloads of the Solaris™ and OpenSolaris™ operating systems, Dell recently started using Ubuntu as OS of choice in some of their notebook product line, the French Police will be solely dependent on Ubuntu operating system by 2012.

A recent survey by Gartner found that two-thirds of the clients they surveyed were using open-source software in mission-critical applications. Clearly, open source has made significant strides in — and a real impact on — the enterprise.

Bottom line? Open source is the ideal business and development model for today’s global, interconnected economy — sparking innovation and participation that benefits individuals and communities, enterprises and markets.

The clock will never turn back on students, developing economies, fledgling universities, or the Fortune 500 who have found value in the wisdom of the open-source community. Open standards and open-source software are literally changing the face of the planet, creating opportunity wherever the network can reach.

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