Survey Shows Factors Leading to Increase in Non-Commercial Linux Use

SANTA CRUZ, CA, April 13, 2005 - Linux developers have used commercial versions of Linux more than non-commercial versions in the past, in 2003 the preference for a commercial version of Linux was double that of non-commercial Linux, but, according to Evans Data Corporation’s new Spring 2005 Linux Development Survey, that has now changed and Linux developers now prefer non-commercial versions of Linux. Six months ago, purchased and free Linux were in a virtual tie, now 34% prefer non-commercial versions of Linux and 28% prefer a commercial version.

Commercial distributions of Linux have garnered support in the past primarily because of access to technical support. In the last six months 25% fewer Linux developers believe that support is the biggest advantage a commercial version of Linux has over a non-commercial version. Twenty percent of Linux developers don’t believe there are any advantages to a commercial version over a non-commercial version, a 50% increase in the last six months.

"The sharp drop off of belief in 'support' being the biggest advantage is another strong indicator of the quality of the non-commercial offerings. Considering that 85% of Linux developers feel the biggest advantage of non-commercial Linux is the ease and cost of upgrades and maintenance, it can be taken as another sign of the maturity of the non-commercial distributions of Linux," said John F. Andrews, COO of Evans Data.

Additionally, the February 2005 survey of more than 400 Linux developers found that the largest disparity between importance and satisfaction with Linux development tools can be found in Error Detection Tools and Debuggers. Error detection tools are believed to be "critical" or "very important" to almost 50% of Linux developers but less than 25% are satisfied and 23% indicated that they "need work". Debuggers are the third most important tool but only 40% of developers think the tools are "excellent" or "very good".

Evans Data Corporation provides regularly updated IT industry market intelligence based on in-depth surveys of the global developer population. Evans' syndicated research includes surveys focused on developers in a wide variety of subjects.

Copyright 2007 Evans Data Corporation. All other company names, products and services mentioned in this document are the trademarks and property of their respective owners.

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