market

The European Commission has published its final report on the Economic Impact of FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) on innovation and competitiveness of the EU ICT sector.

This is a heavy report that will take some time to read. I just made a fast reading of this document and find some interesting figures:

• Firms have invested an estimated Euro 1.2 billion in developing FLOSS software that is made freely available. Such firms represent in total at least 565 000 jobs and Euro 263 billion in annual revenue.
• At the end of 2005, 61.2% of code had been developed by individuals, according to copyright and credit claims, while 19.2% was claimed my companies, 5.6% universities, and 7.9% foundations.
• More than 70% of the web servers are running with Apache and +/-20% with Microsoft tools.
• 3/5 of the worldwide Floss developers are living in Europe, 1/5 in the North America and another 1/5 live in other countries.
• 85% of the employers who use some FLOSS and thus (more) likely to be aware of how its developer community works think that FLOSS experience adds value to formal computer science experience. Than, they think that proven participation in the FLOSS world can compensate for the lack of formal degree.
• 32% of the Jobs postings are "FLOSS".

There are other interesting figures in this report. Unfortunately, this document will take time to digest. Anyway, I advise you to read some chapters for a better understanding of the FLOSS influence on European industry.