Confidence in open source technology is growing among businesses of all sizes, according to a survey conducted by The 451 Group and North Bridge Venture partners. A majority of respondents said that more than half of the software they buy over the next five years will be open source, reports Katherine Noyes at PCWorld.

The main catalyst behind the rising enthusiasm for open source is not a desire to save money in a tough economy, according to the "Future of Open Source Survey." 95 percent of the respondents said that the promise of avoiding vendor lock-in was the most appealing aspect of the product. 

The primary technology forces driving the growth of open source are software-as-a-service and mobility. Last year, the mobile arena saw 3,800 new open source projects, which was more than twice as many as the year before. In cloud computing, there are more than 470 projects involving open source.

For more:
- see Katherine Noyes's article at PCWorld

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