Open Business
The Linux Foundation released a report estimating the value of their open source projects at 5 billion. That is 5 billion dollars worth of software that you can use for any purpose that you choose.
You can use this open source software to create a new business, support your existing business, create a new product or simply reduce your costs.
The potential of leveraging that 5 billion dollars in investment has not been lost on the largest and most successful businesses, governments and institutions.
Google, The New York Stock Exchange, IBM and Peugeot are examples of major corporations with significant open source projects and deployments. According to recent surveys most corporations report plans to increase their utilization of open source.
Internet Service Providers
Open source is the dominate technology for web hosting with over 50% of all websites hosted on open source servers. In addition to web servers most sites use open source tools such as databases and/or programming languages. It is estimated that more than 50% of web sites utilize WordPress, Apache, JavaScript, MySQL, PHP, Python and/or some other open source tool.
Technology and non-technology companies have embraced open source and accepted it as a way companies can share development costs. Technology companies such as Novell, Red Hat, IBM and HP use, develop and contribute to open source software. This decreases their costs for those common components that they all share and use. It also allows them to use some capabilities without any development or software costs.
These companies and the clients they service generate jobs and revenues in the billions. With more than 50% of all websites hosted on Linux the economic impact of open source on the internet alone is significant. However, the utilization extends beyond the internet and includes government, science, education, business and home use.
IBM
In August of 2015, The MIT Technology Review wrote the following about Linux and IBM.
"The partnership of IBM and Linux is a great example. Through its commitment to open source technology and an expansive ecosystem of partners, Linux has become the fastest growing operating system in the world, an engine of community innovation and a key part of the enterprise IT infrastructure. As a result, the market for Linux servers, applications, software and operating systems surpassed $57 billion in 2014, almost doubling in the past five years, according to IDC."
The article goes on to say:
"For more than 50 years the mainframe has served as the backbone of the global economy. More than half of the world's transactions run on the mainframe due to its reliability and ultra-secure environment. It now powers 92 of the top 100 banks and 23 of the top 25 airlines around the world. Since being introduced to the mainframe 15 years ago, demand for Linux on the mainframe has grown dramatically, with more than one third of all mainframe clients now using Linux."
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs is one of the most successful and well known financial services firms on Wall Street. Goldman Sachs utilizes open source for many project and a contributor and supporter of the open source community. Affiliations include the Linux Foundation Open Container Initiative, the Eclipse Foundation.
See what the Don Duet, co-head of the Technology Division at Goldman Sachs has to say about open source and the opportunities it is creating for Goldman Sachs and businesses around the world:
Possibilities
Linux makes it possible for everyone to have access to advanced computing technology at a low cost. More importantly, it provides a frame work to extend and develop new applications and services.
However, this advantage is available to everyone and can be used by everyone. If you are not leveraging open source today, learn about it and get started.
Financial Opportunity
Personal Opportunity - Free software gives you access to billions of dollars of software at no cost. Use this software for your business, personal use or to develop a profitable skill. Access to source code provides access to a level of capabilities/information that companies protect though copyrights. Open source is a core component of the Internet and it is available to you. Leverage the billions of dollars in resources and capabilities to build a career, establish a business or change the world. The potential is endless for those who understand the opportunity.
Business Opportunity - Goldman Sachs, IBM and countless large corporations are leveraging open source to reduce costs, develop products and increase their bottom lines. Learn what these companies know about open source and how open source can give you the advantage.
U.S. Government - On January 20 2009, President Obama's first day in office, the Open Government initiative was issued to provide transparency and access to Government data. Learn how our Government is using open source and the opportunities this provides for you. Leverage Use open Government data or
Free Books
The Free Books Library is a collection of thousands of the most popular public domain books in an online readable format. The collection includes great classical literature and more recent works where the U.S. copyright has expired. These books are yours to read and use without restrictions.
The Library of History by Diodorus the Sicilian is one of the most highly regarded universal histories in antiquities. His work includes the history of Egypt, Asia, Africa, Greece and Europe. His book is a must read for research of ancient history.
The Histories of Herodotus written in 440 BC is considered to be the founding work of history in Western literature. His history included stories and fables but he claimed to have traveled extensively and learned about many countries through direct observation.
The thesis of Stolen Legacy is that the Egyptians created what is wrongly called Greek philosophy. Dr. James argues that the African origin of Greek Philosophy is well known but rarely discussed. Ancient Greek historians such as Herodotus and Diodorus the Sicilian wrote in significant detail about the contributions of Egypt. Egyptian technology and libraries were unmatched and Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato studied there. The contribution of Africa to the intellectual foundation of modern knowledge is tremendous but unacknowledged.
Bible Study The King James Bible (kjv), World English Bible (web) and Bible in Basic English (bbe) are all examples of public domain books. The King James Bible (kjv) online uses the content from these books and open source software to enhance Bible study capabilities. The site includes the verse of the day, search tools, christian literature and links to related content. It demonstrates the use of open source to create a valuable service.
Free Software
Free Software provides computer programs and capabilities at no cost but more importantly, it provides the freedom to run, edit, contribute to, and share the software. The importance of free software is a matter of access, not price. Software at no cost is a benefit but ownership rights to the software and source code is far more significant.
Free Office Software - The Libre Office suite provides top desktop productivity tools for free. This includes, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation engine, drawing and flowcharting, database and math applications. Libre Office is available for Linux or Windows.
Linux is an open source computer operating system (OS) used on laptops, games, watches and super computers. The software and the source code used for Linux are both available to you at no cost. Use this powerful resource to your advantage.
Source Code - Want to change a program or know how it works? Open Source provides the source code for its programs so that anyone can use, modify or learn how to write those programs themselves. Visit the GNU source code repositories to download the source.
Educational Materials
Study at Harvard, Stanford or MIT - Open edX provides free online courses from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley and other top Universities. Hundreds of courses for almost all major subjects and course levels. Open edx also offers some paid courses and selected certifications.
Linux Manual Pages - A man or manual page is a form of software documentation found on Linux/Unix operating systems. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts.
