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Windows to Linux defections to outpace Unix shifts in 2011

Recession or no recession, the penguin paddles

Linux server deployments are expected to take slightly more business from Microsoft than Unix in the next year, according to latest data.

A Linux Foundation poll of major public and private sector organizations using Linux has found that 76.4 per cent plan to add more Linux servers during the next year, with just 41.2 per cent planning to add more Windows servers to their IT infrastructure's mix.

Forty-three per cent said they will decrease or maintain the existing number of Windows servers they're running.

Linux will take slightly more business from Windows than from Unix — the traditional target: 36.6 per cent are moving from Windows, compared to 31.4 per cent migrating from Unix to Linux, the Linux Foundation said.

Two-thirds of Linux deployments are going into greenfield sites, but a very low number are being used to build out cloudy data centers. Just 26 per cent of survey respondents will move their applications or services to the cloud during the next 12 months.

Respondents said that Linux is becoming more strategic to those running their organizations, with technical superiority the biggest reason given for moving to Linux, by 67 per cent. Other factors driving Linux are decent security — 64 per cent — and low total cost of ownership, 65.4 per cent.

The recession, often cited as one door-opener for Linux and open source use, has had no impact on the decision to use Linux for 58.6 per cent of respondents.

Hurdles to adoption are relatively low: the biggest obstacle is lack of drivers, for 39.4 per cent. Just over 38 per cent cited either interoperability with other platforms and applications, or the need for skilled support people as problems.

The Linux Foundation surveyed 1,948 Linux users, with 387 being in organizations of $500m or more than 500 users. ®

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