No project advances without challenges. Perhaps it was fitting that the Open Source Summit Europe began amid some of the worst storms in recent memory, only to conclude under clear skies and warm autumn sunshine.
Backed by the Linux Foundation, the conference featured a variety of product announcements and initiatives, notably the formation of the LF Foundation Decentralized Trust, which consolidates various distributed trust projects, including blockchain, ledger, identity, and cryptographic efforts.
The Linux Foundation also announced the general availability of Valkey 8.0, an open-source in-memory database project that forked from Redis earlier this year after the original company altered its licensing terms. In another significant development, Amazon Web Services (AWS) donated the OpenSearch project to the Linux Foundation. AWS initiated the OpenSearch project in response to Elastic’s licensing change regarding ElasticSearch back in 2021.
Additionally, the Linux Foundation, alongside its powerful offshoot, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, has teamed up with Unified Patents to safeguard open source software against non-practicing entities, commonly referred to as patent trolls.
While the overall “ecosystem” appears very healthy, a pressing question remains: What is truly happening within the community? More specifically, how are businesses utilizing and benefiting from open source software?
According to the Linux Foundation’s Open Source Maturity in Europe report, between 2022 and 2024, “more than half of the respondents each year reported an increase in business value derived from using open source software compared to the previous year.” This year, nearly two-thirds reported growth in business value from the preceding year. “This points to a compounding effect, where the value of open source software continues to escalate annually. Likewise, the advantages from contributions are also on the rise, with 52% of respondents in recent surveys reporting increased benefits compared to past years,” stated the report.
Benefits cited include enhanced productivity (62%), accelerated innovation (61%), and lowered operating costs (60%). Notably, over three-quarters of respondents deemed open source software more secure than its closed-source counterparts.
However, the study also highlighted that cultural resistance within organizations can hinder open source adoption, particularly in traditionally conservative sectors like finance. It emphasized, “Open source is often mistakenly perceived as a purely technical issue, when in reality, it represents a cultural transformation that requires a multidimensional approach.”
Cultural transformation is vital in navigating an increasingly unpredictable world, where organizations must innovate continuously to remain competitive. During a panel discussion on lessons from various industries, Wolfgang Gehring, head of the open source program at Mercedes-Benz, remarked that modern vehicles operate like data centers on wheels, where “innovation and software mean open source.” He noted that open collaboration within the industry significantly eases the resolution of common challenges.
Karel Rietveld, Open Source Program Office lead at the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, pointed out that motivations for adopting open source might differ in the public sector due to various regulations and layers of management, and that open source could be more cost-effective for cash-strapped public agencies, although the public cost of time and personnel must also be factored in.
Despite this, it’s arguable that many critical sectors harbor an inherent distrust of open source and are hesitant to integrate it into their systems. A simplistic viewpoint might suggest that few companies are entirely immune to the influence of open source; from a CEO’s Android device to their reliance on cloud technologies that encompass a cloud-native stack built on containers and Kubernetes, the presence of open source is undeniable.
While it’s often said that the financial sector is secretive, it is increasingly embracing open source—not necessarily for idealistic reasons, but rather due to shared challenges such as regulatory compliance. Gabrielle Columbro, director of both the Linux Foundation Europe and the Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS), observed that financial services might actually be ahead of other traditional industries in understanding and adopting open source, attributing this to their tech-focused nature and the presence of thousands of developers across banks and financial institutions.
The power sector, regarded as another conservative industry, is also beginning to lean into open source solutions as it confronts the challenges of climate change. Jonas van den Bogaard, the open source lead at Dutch power distribution company Alliander and a member of the technical advisory council at LF Energy, stated that the sector is racing to decarbonize and electrify their grids, which necessitates the development of new management and forecasting tools.
“We’re actively seeking collaborations and partnerships with industry players—including vendors, academia, and cross-sector participants—to pool resources, knowledge, and expertise for these digital integrations,” he noted. “We view open source as a critical strategy for achieving this goal.”
Moreover, open source is not limited to just the power sector; other vital infrastructures also stand to benefit from it.
As the head of Nokia’s open source projects office, Timo Perala pointed out that customers prioritize functional products and services over the incorporation of open source elements, drawing parallels to how they regard the sourcing of physical components. He emphasized that open source collaboration serves as shared research and development among stakeholders, where solutions arise from collective problem-solving rather than competitive advantage.
Despite the conservative nature of industries like finance and power, they are contending with significant disruptions that necessitate rapid innovation. If these sectors are adopting open source, it stands to reason that others may follow suit, particularly when faced with similar levels of potential disruption.
As Gehring from Mercedes-Benz succinctly stated, “Innovation is currently happening in open source. Software innovation happens in open source. You either participate or miss out—that’s the reality.”