OpenLogic’s Open Source Trending Report analyzes which open source projects are growing the most quickly in enterprise interest and adoption during the past year. With this information, you can keep an eye on the hottest open source projects that may be coming to your enterprise in the year ahead. OpenLogic analyzed eight growth metrics for sixteen open source projects in three categories — web and application servers; application frameworks; and databases and big data. The projects were stack ranked on each metric and across all metrics to create an overall growth ranking.

Overall Growth Ranking

1. HBase
2. Node.js
3. nginx
4. Hadoop
5. Rails
6. MongoDB
7. Tomcat
8. MySQL
9. Apache
10. Spring
11. Grails      PostgreSQL(tie)
12. Struts
13. JBoss
14. GlassFish
15. CouchDB

Category Trends

Within each category, OpenLogic also analyzed which projects were trending up (all or most of the metrics were up), trending level (some metrics were up and some were down), or trending down (all or most of the metrics were down). Below are the trends by category.

Application Server/Web Server Category

• Trending Up: Node.js and nginx
• Trending Level: Tomcat and Apache HTTP Server
• Trending Down: JBoss and GlassFish

Analysis

Node.js is helping to drive a resurgence of JavaScript. It acts as an application server for JavaScript apps, thereby increasing scalability and performance. Nginx is a high concurrency, low memory usage web server and reverse proxy that is gaining strong adoption across the internet.

Tomcat and Apache HTTP server continue to be the 800-pound gorillas in their respective categories, but with a broad adoption base, their growth is more limited than some newer technologies.

The surprise in this category is the downward trend of JBoss. Although JBoss continues to be a popular option, we see more enterprises that are shifting off proprietary application servers chossing lightweight options like Tomcat.

Frameworks Category

• Trending Up: Rails
• Trending Level: Spring, Grails, Struts
• Trending down: (none)

Analysis

It’s not a big surprise to see that Rails, an application framework for the Ruby language, is generating a lot of interest and growth. Rails is well suited to the highly scalable web applications that are becoming more prevalent in the enterprise. In addition, Rails attracts developers with its emphasis on convention over configuration, which can greatly accelerate development time.

Spring, Struts, and Grails all are trending level, showing that they continue to attract a steady level of interest in this category.

Databases and Big Data Category

• Trending Up: HBase, Hadoop, MongoDB
• Trending Level: MySQL, PostgreSQL
• Trending Down: CouchDB

Analysis

In this category many of the Big Data and No SQL projects came out on top of the overall growth rankings. Some of the growth these projects are enjoying can be attributed to the current hype around the entier Big Data category, but these technologies are also very quickly making their way onto the radar of enterprises.  These technologies are enabling brand new applications that were formerly much more difficult with traditional database and data analysis techniques. As a result, they are often chosen for new projects where they are no established database vendors to displace.

The one exception to the dominance of Big Data is the downward trend of CouchDB. CouchDB arrived on the scene a few years ago as one of the hot new NoSQL vendors. However, one of the main companies backing CouchDB is stepping away from their open source commitment and the project is a fit for a more limited set of use cases than some of the other NoSQL alternatives.  It’s possible that this project may regain its footing in 2012.

MySQL and PostgreSQL both trended level. Despite the Oracle acquisition of MySQL, it still ranked ahead of PostgreSQL in our growth rankings.

Methodology

To develop the Open Source Trending Report, OpenLogic analyzed popular as well as up-and-coming open source projects that are used as core infrastructure in enterprise applications in order to evaluate growth in enterprise interest and adoption. The three categories analyzed were web and application servers; application frameworks; and databases and big data. For each open source project, OpenLogic analyzed eight metrics that include public data, as well as aggregated data from OpenLogic’s tools and customer base of over 250 enterprises worldwide. The OpenLogic report used the following eight metrics:

• Public data: Google search volume.
• OpenLogic Exchange (OLEX) and OSS Deep Discovery Scanner: The report evaluated OLEX search volume, views of packages, downloads, requests within corporations to use the project and matches against the project during scans. OLEX is a Software-as-a-Service solution for the comprehensive governance and provisioning of open source software used by many Fortune 100 companies.
• OpenLogic CloudSwing and Open Source Support Contracts: OpenLogic aggregated data on customers purchasing support contracts from OpenLogic for each project, as well as projects that users deployed through OpenLogic CloudSwing, an open PaaS platform.

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For auto companies that are using or want to use open source software, it’s important to build open source compliance processes into your development and procurement processes.

You’ve probably already heard that today’s cars include lots of software. What you may not know is that these cars also include a lot of open source software. GENIVI, a non-profit industry alliance that includes members like BMW, Delphi and GM working to create an open source development platform for In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI). In addition, several Android-based IVI systems have been announced and more are coming soon. The use of open source also extends to the many car-focused mobile apps for both Android and Apple platforms.

I spoke at the recent Automotive Linux Summit in Japan and shared five tips to help you ensure you are complying with the open source licenses that you use:

1. Understand Open Source Licenses

If your organization is relatively new to using open source software in the products you create, you need to start by getting educated about open source licenses. It’s not just the legal team that needs to learn about the implications of open source software but also your development, procurement and project management organizations. In a recent webinar, Jilayne Lovejoy, OpenLogic’s corporate counsel provided an overview of popular open source licenses.

2. Create an Open Source Policy

If your company doesn’t have an open source policy, now is the time to create one.  If your company already has a policy, this is a good opportunity to review it and make sure you have all of your bases covered.  Creating a policy is a great opportunity to make decisions about the guidelines and processes you want the organization to follow.

3. Track All Open Source Usage – Including From Vendors

Keep in mind that open source can come in from multiple sources.  Open source can be downloaded by your developers and it can come in from suppliers of anything from software to chips to components.  You’ll need to track open source as apart of your development process but you will also need to work open source governance in into your procurement processes (including your contracts).

4. Conduct a Scan or Audit of Your Code

Despite the best intentions, it can be easy to miss open source included in your code. Developers often aren’t aware that there is open source code bundled inside other open source projects that they have used – and that the bundled code is under completely different licenses.  In addition, some suppliers may not be aware of or accurately communicate all of the open source that they have used.  As a result, it’s important to scan or audit all of your source code before it is released. Learn more about conducting your own open source audit in a free whitepaper, Open Source Software Audits: Why, When and How to Conduct an Audit.

5. Create a Compliance Checklist

Once you have a complete list of all of the open source used and the relevant licenses, you can create a compliance checklist that itemizes all of the compliance steps you must take.  The compliance checklist should only include the items that are relevant to your usage model. For example, if you haven’t modified the open source code, then some requirements of the license may not apply.  Once you’ve created a compliance checklist, you will need to ensure that all of the items are completed before the code is shipped.

Following these 5 best practices will help ensure that you can successfully and safely use open source software. For more information, you can review our Open Source Compliance in the Supply Chain whitepaper

What are some others that you would add to this list?

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Word is out that Oracle intends to increase prices on MySQL. The news is not a surprise — we predicted it 18 months ago when the deal was announced. Although it would be convenient to blame Larry Ellison, the fact is that Red Hat did the same when they acquired JBoss.

The good news for MySQL users is that they aren't stuck with Oracle. OpenLogic has been successfully offering flat fee enterprise support for MySQL and over 550 other open source projects for the last 4 years. Check it out if you’re not interested in being strong-armed by Oracle price increases.

How SaaS and Cloud Technologies like Hadoop Make Big Data, Big Processing Applications Faster and Easier

OpenLogic offers several solutions to help companies scan their software and systems to find any open source software that is being used.  At OpenLogic, we’ve proven that a (software-as-a-service) SaaS solution coupled with cloud technologies creates a faster and easier solution for our customers.

When scanning for open source software, there are two critical factors: lots of data and lots of processing requirements. The “lots of data” requirement comes from large volumes of source code, indexes and fingerprints for hundreds of thousands of open source projects. The “lots of processing” requirements comes from the need to quickly find all the potential matches where your source code includes open source code, and more importantly to narrow down those potential matches to the RIGHT match using sophisticated noise reduction techniques. 

Just to give you an idea of the technologies involved, we are using Hadoop, HBase and Solr to manage and search the big data. The analysis and processing is done in a Ruby on Rails SaaS application that is distributed with dozens and dozens of workers across an array of servers. There is also a small client-side Ruby application that does fingerprinting of local code so that your code never leaves your firewall.

We’ve seen three key benefits for customers in using these SaaS & cloud technologies:

1. Instant on, zero hardware requirements

Customers don’t require any special hardware or any special data storage. They get an “instant on” and can be scanning within seconds. This is a well-known benefit of a SaaS solution, but it is even more critical when you are dealing with applications that rely on big data.

2. Better results, better performance

There are always new and better techniques to find and pinpoint matches between your code and open source code. Because the heavy-lifting of processing those matches is done in OpenLogic’s data center, we can add new and better algorithms without slowing down customer scanning or requiring them to add new hardware.

3. Latest and greatest data, no maintenance required

When we add new fingerprints to expand our database of packages or add new ways to fingerprint code, the customer instantly gets access to this new data. They aren’t forced to update a local fingerprint repository or add hardware to accommodate the expansion.

We’ve seen how big data, big processing public search sites from Yahoo and Google can benefit from SaaS and cloud approaches. Our application, which scans for open source code, is a real-life proof point of how more specialized applications can benefit as well and deliver significant benefits to customers.

Earlier this week, the latest round of BusyBox GPL lawsuits were announced by the SFLC. The current offenders are Best Buy, JVC, Samsung, Westinghouse and 10 others. It seems that every few months, there are a new round of violations or lawsuits announced, so it behooves every company that distributes software or products containing software to ensure they aren't ever on the list. We announced our Open Source Fulfillment Center service earlier this week that helps companies ensure they comply with the GPL.

Jason Perlow of ZDnet gave a pretty good explanation of the challenges in complying with the GPL. Dana Blankenhorn, his colleague, talks about why those explanations are not an excuse. I want to focus on some concrete steps companies can take to avoid being the next defendants.

Assume that you may be using GPL code.

Realize that if you have software in your product, there is a high probability that you have open source software in it. There is also a HIGH probability you have GPL or LGPL code in your software, even if you think you don't.

At OpenLogic, we offer an Application Audit service for customers where our experts scan your source code to identify any open source and help you comply with the licenses. When we do an Application Auidt, we always find open source, we always find more open source than the company thinks they have, and we almost always find GPL code that the company is unaware of.

Scan all of your code – including code from outsourcers.

Even when companies have good source code control practices, it's almost impossible to get a 100% accurate list of the open source and licenses used. The main challenge is that open source often has other open source components that are bundled inside it, and that use different licenses than the primary license specified by the project. The only way to find a complete list of open source and the relevant licenses is to scan your code.

It's also critical to scan all code from outsourcers. At OpenLogic, we find that many cases of "hidden GPL" come from this source.

OpenLogic provides both services and products for scanning code to identify open source.

Understand how to fulfill the source code requirements of the GPL/LGPL.

Once you determine that you have GPL or LGPL code in your software, make sure you understand and follow all of the appropriate requirements. Some of those requirements may not be readily apparent, but they can include:

• Including source code with your product OR including an offer to get source code with your product
• Providing the exact "corresponding source" that goes with the binaries for each product and model
• Providing instructions on how to create binaries from the source – including scripts, information on the tools needed, and details on how to replace the standard code in your product with the modified code
• Providing the source code in electronic AND physical media
• Maintaining the source code for a period of time after the latest distribution of your product

OpenLogic provides an Open Source Fulfillment Center service that helps you comply with the GPL.

I also recommend A Practical Guide to GPL Compliance from the SFLC as a great primer for do-it-yourselfers.

We announced last week that we were offering support for CentOS — a community distribution of Linux that is created from the publicly available source code that is used to create RHEL.  CentOS strives to be binary compatible with RHEL and is built from the source code that is used to make RHEL — minus all of the Red Hat names, logos and trademarks.

Here's what's included in a CentOS support subscription from OpenLogic.

Technical Support with multiple service level options: OpenLogic provides business hour and 24×7 SLA options with guaranteed response times.

Access to Updates:  OpenLogic provides a service (called OpenUpdate) which notifies customers of new releases and patches for not only CentOS but 500 open source packages in the OpenLogic Certified Library.

Indemnification: OpenLogic offers limited indemnification to customers who buy CentOS support for IP actions against CentOS.

Companies that distribute software containing open source often struggle to comply with open source licenses.  (See latest lawsuit by Artifex against Palm).

Most companies that violate open source licenses do so because they haven't properly tracked the open source software they used or what open source licenses apply.  The use of code from outsourcers and the nesting of open source projects creates additional complexities for companies' compliance efforts.

Today at OpenLogic we announced a new source code scanning and license compliance solution to help companies accurately identify the open source in their code.  Scanning solutions to identify open source code have been around for several years.  However, as we used a variety of scanners to audit customer's applications, we found that these existing solutions have significant limitations.  We developed OSS Deep Discovery and the OLEX License Compliance module to address these issues.  The OpenLogic solutions provides:

• High accuracy, low noise:  Using a range of advanced matching and noise reduction techniques, OSS Deep Discovery provides pinpoint identification of the correct origin of open source code.  OSS Deep Discovery eliminates the extraneous matches that are common with previous solutions.
• Lightweight, instant-on architecture:  The OLEX License Compliance module is a SaaS-based solution that eliminates the need for additional hardware or infrastructure and OSS Deep Discovery is a lightweight downloadable client that enables you to start scanning your code within minutes.
• Value-priced:  OpenLogic's solution provides a low cost way to ensure open source compliance.  Subscriptions provide a low-entry price for small companies as well as a cost-effective "unlimited scanning" option for companies scanning large volumes of code.

Companies now have new options for scanning source code to find open source and ensure compliance with open source licenses.

After four years supporting a wide variety of open source projects for over 120 enterprises, OpenLogic is now expanding our offering to include commercial support for community distributions of Linux.  Today we announced that we are offering commercial support for CentOS as our first community Linux distro.

Here's a Q&A explaining the why's and how's of our announcement:

Why are you now offering support for Linux?

Customers come to OpenLogic to get one-stop support across all of the open source that they use.  Since applications using open source often run on Linux, our customers have asked us to offer support for community distros of Linux.  

Why are you starting with support for CentOS?

We have gotten requests for CentOS support from our customers.  In addition, CentOS is a great choice for enterprises looking for a lower cost option for Linux on their servers.

Why would a company get CentOS support from you versus other support vendors?

There are three main reasons customers get support from us — aggregation, quality and value. 

• OpenLogic is a one-stop shop for companies looking for open source support covering hundreds of open source projects – including many projects for which there is no other commercial support option.
• OpenLogic provides high-quality, expert support that doesn't stop at the boundary of a single project.  When issues span multiple open source projects and even involve the operating system, OpenLogic can still help when other vendors begin to point fingers.
• OpenLogic is value-priced compared with offerings from other vendors.  OpenLogic offers low priced support options for unlimited servers and unlimited incidents.

How is your CentOS support priced?

Our CentOS support can be bought in two ways — based on the number of servers or an unlimited server option.  The low priced unlimited server option can provide significant cost advantages for as few as 15 servers.

How do you handle bug fixes?

The CentOS project stays up-to-date with fixes from the upstream vendor.  OpenLogic will fix bugs and contribute fixes back to the community on behalf of its customers.

What is CentOS?

From the CentOS Wiki & website:

CentOS is an Enterprise Linux distribution based on the freely available sources from Red Hat(R) Enterprise Linux.

CentOS conforms fully with the upstream vendors redistribution policies and aims to be 100% binary compatible. (CentOS mainly changes packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork).  CentOS is free.

 

CentOS is a trademark of CentOS Ltd.

Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc.

I know everyone's been saying it: The economic downturn will drive more people to open source. Because OpenLogic sells support on 500 projects as well as open source governance services and solutions, we get a very broad view of enterprise use of open source. After analyzing our Q3 and 2009 results, I've seen the data, and I'm here to tell you that open source is looking good.

Our press release hits some of the highlights, but I wanted to share some more details here.

Companies are choosing to pay for open source support

Our business has been growing strongly since initial funding, but the current economic downturn has caused an inflection point. In Q3 we've blown away our previous highs for number of new customers and number of transactions. In the first 3 quarters of 2009, we've seen growth in revenue from new customers up over 60% from 2008.

This growth shows that not only are more people using open source, but more people are choosing to pay for open source support or governance solutions. We tend to gain customers as open source usage becomes more accepted, broad and pervasive in an organization. Some have said that companies may choose to self-support open source as they become more familiar with it, but we've seen the opposite in our business. Our results indicate that more and more companies are interested in stepping up to pay for support when it's at the right price and delivered in the right way.

Many more people are proactively looking for open source support & governance

We generate our new customers through a combination of inbound leads (pay per click, organic search), and outbound marketing (webinars, telemarketing). The number of inbound leads is always an interesting number, since it represents prospects that come to us of their own volition and is a good indicator of how many people are looking to buy open source support & governance.

The number of inbound leads has been steadily growing, but starting in Jan 2009 we saw a jump and starting in Jun 2009 we saw an even larger increase. We are now getting 77% of our new customers from inbound leads — up significantly in both numbers and percentages from a year ago. This indicates that more companies are proactively looking for solutions unprompted by our outbound marketing efforts.

Open source is spreading beyond early-adopter industries

We've always had a lot of strength in early adopter industries — financial services and technology being the top two. In 2009, we've seen a striking increase in the breadth of industries in our customer base. We are seeing strong growth in a variety of industries, including some (retail, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, energy) that are not always known for being on the bleeding edge. This indicates that open source usage is spreading in industries that don't operate on the leading edge of technology.

The data from our results is reinforcing the idea that open source has grown as the economy has struggled — it's use is spreading to new industries and spreading within organizations. Even more importantly for open source vendors, we have not seen a flight toward self-support, but rather an increased willingness to pay for commercial support of open source.

Join the conversation and let us know what you've been seeing in your open source business.

A recent survey we did of enterprises using open source, showed that they are not big fans of the open-core business model.  Recent blogs by Matthew Aslett, Jay Lyman, John Mark Walker center around this issue of the future of the open core business model.

At OpenLogic, we are a VC-backed company that has developed a business using a "services-based" model around open source.  Our definition of services-based matches with Matthew Aslett's.

By “services” we are not simply referring to support services, training, implementation services and consulting. The term also includes software delivered as a service, and features delivered as a managed service – such as via Red Hat Network. It includes anything you can think of, in fact, that can be considered a service, rather than a product.

I wanted to share with you a few of the lessons we've learned as we've developed this services-based model in the hopes that it may help others in that are considering a services model for their open source businesses.

1. Expand your picture of "product"

In the old, proprietary software world, your product was a piece of software. In the world of "open-core", most vendors just split the software into two pieces — the free open source part and the proprietary part.  They then sell the proprietary part just like any proprietary software.  That may be comfortable, but it can also force you to act just like a proprietary software vendor so that you can control and own the IP.

If you consider a model where the software is completely open source, you need to look beyond the software to monetize your business.  If you expand your view to the "whole product", you now have a variety of other options that customers value that you can use to monetize your business  (channels, add ons, partnerships, services, etc). At OpenLogic, we've built our business around several of these "whole product" elements:

• Certified library of open source software
• Notification and updates on open source changes
• Indemnification on open source software
• SLA Support on 500 projects
• Consulting services
• Training
• SaaS Open Source Governance platform

Our value is in being a one-stop shop with expertise across many open source projects.

Other companies have also figured out ways to monetize other "whole product" elements:

• Certification of open source with other products (RedHat, SLES)
• Hosting of open source software (SugarCRM)
• Add-on management tools (SpringSource, MuleSource)
• Commercial licenses (MySQL)
• Backport of patches (RedHat)

When you consider your business model — look broadly at your whole product to find the best way to generate revenue.

2. Learn to live without lock-in

At OpenLogic, we offer support on hundreds of open source projects — some of which have competing support vendors.  At any given point, a customer may decide that one of those vendors offers a better support offering.  When the contract comes up for renewal, if we haven't delivered value or provided outstanding support, we likely won't get a renewal.

Instead of fearing this, we embrace it.  It means that we need to stay focused every day on delivering value, offering competitive pricing, solving customer issues quickly and accurately and ensuring we meet customer needs. 

Instead of agonizing over the fact that customers could switch, we just get on with it.  Lots of other businesses across many industries are in that same situation.  If they can build successful businesses, so can we.

3. Build your business so you can price for value

Open source is typically priced lower than competing proprietary products.  However, when you build a business around completely open source software (not open-core), you likely will have vendors who compete with you on  support, services and training for the product. When you are operating in a competitive landscape, you better make sure your pricing is competitive.

To do that, you need to examine all of the costs associated with traditional, proprietary software and determine how you can lower the costs of your business.  Open community development models (as opposed to a vendor-controlled community) can save on development costs.  Open source can also reduce sales and marketing costs.  However, you need to go beyond these obvious areas to find other ways to operate differently.

At OpenLogic, we developed a unique federated support model that aligns our costs to actual customer issues.  We also have developed lead generation and sales processes that are much lower cost than expensive enterprise sales processes.  The specifics of your business will vary, but there are many opportunities to structure your business in a way that you spend less and can price for value.

4. Re-think your misconceptions about margins

Many people from the proprietary software world, including VCs, have the misconception that "services" businesses have lower margins.  The misconception comes from equating "services" with "professional services".  Once you realize that a "services" business goes above and beyond traditional professional services, the picture on margin changes drastically.

Margins on support business are very good.  Look at RedHat's margin (over 80%) as an example of this.  If you look at proprietary vendors like Oracle, their business is built around making money from their support and maintenance offerings.  

Once you let go of the idea that services always means lower margins, you'll open up many more opportunities for your business model.