Who uses Linux and Open Source in Business?

[Basil Chupin]

Thanks to Glyn Moody, a UK-based technology journalist

<http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/authors/#authorId87>, I’ve just
learned that Netflix<http://www.netflix.com>  is not only using, but
also contributing, to numerous open-source projects. They’re in good
company.
...........................

Netflix is far from the only business that benefits from open source
though. People tend to think of Linux and open-source software as
benefiting only technology businesses such as IBM, Oracle, and Red Hat.
That’s not at all the case.

Google, Facebook, and Twitter, all best known as Web companies, depend
on Linux and open-source software to handle their hundreds of millions
to billions of daily users. Indeed, without open-source software I doubt
very much that any of that trio would be as big as they are today.

It’s not just businesses that center on technology that have found Linux
and open source help their bottom line. The London Stock Exchange, for
example, just switched to Millennium Exchange, which is based around
Linux
<http://practical-tech.com/operating-system/london-stock-exchange-moves-to-linux/>.
Other stock exchanges such as Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) the New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Tokyo Stock Exchange. etc., etc.

Why have all these businesses done this? It’s not because any of these
businesses love Linux or open-source for their own sake or to stick it
to Microsoft or other proprietary software companies. They do it because
Linux and open-source software tends to be cheaper, faster, more stable,
and gives them more control over the software. In short, open-source and
Linux works well for business.


Full story:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/who-uses-linux-and-open-source-in-business/7951