Open Source Lures Business

From cautious corporate onlookers trying to gauge how Linux and open-source software fit into enterprise IT systems to the companies now looking to expand their use of open-source applications, a broad swath of IT users are in San Francisco at the annual LinuxWorld Conference & Expo.

What they are looking for depends on where their companies are in the ongoing convergence of corporate IT and open-source software.

Stewart Savage, director of IT for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District in Fairfield, Calif., said he’s looking for more nonproprietary software that he can add to the school district’s infrastructure. “We come here to see how Linux is maturing over time,” Savage said. “I first came here five years ago, and I was very confused. But a critical mass was achieved where the complexity of learning it was greatly reduced. It’s no longer just for Linux gurus.”

Read more at PC World