Open-Source Developers Embrace Cloud, Google App Engine

A recent survey from Evans Data shows that 40 percent of surveyed developers working on open-source projects plan to deliver their applications as Web services offerings using cloud providers.

According to the Evans Data Open Source/Linux Development survey, among those who plan to use the cloud, the majority, at 28 percent, said they plan to use Google App Engine, while 15 percent plan to use Amazon.com's services. Cloud services by other vendors, such as Microsoft, IBM and Salesforce.com, were not nearly as popular. Evans Data surveyed more than 360 developers involved with open-source projects, company officials said.

"As costs increase for power, staff and data center resources, more businesses are being attracted to the latest promise: moving more of the company's infrastructure and applications into a third-party-provided cloud," John Andrews, president and CEO of Evans Data, said in a statement. "Many companies are using this model to not only reduce infrastructure costs but simultaneously increase their computational capabilities."

The Evans Data survey also indicated that more open-source applications are distributed through open-source software portals than any other way. The survey said 30 percent of open-source applications are distributed through open-source software portals, but those developers who distribute their applications through mobile application stores are the most likely to be making money.

Other highlights of the survey include that MySQL is still the open-source database of choice, with over half of developers using it in at least some of their projects. In addition, 52 percent of respondents said they use Linux in a virtualized environment, and 20 percent of developers said they use the Flex programming language at least some of the time.