Thousands of organizations have found open source to be highly reliable, secure, and cost-effective. In addition, leading companies are standardizing on the open source LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl/Python) because of its lower cost, greater efficiency, and freedom from platform lock-in.
Today, you no longer have to trade off support and stability to get the benefits of open source. Second generation open source companies provide:

• Commercial support
• Training and consulting
• Responsibility for product roadmap
• Clear ownership of intellectual property (IP)
• Large number of third-party tools
• Best practices resources available to ensure your success

Open source software is increasingly sharing the spotlight with traditional solutions across a great number of markets. Indeed in many areas open source has taken center stage. However, the true business value of open source software is often obscured by the haze of hype promulgated by both proponents and detractors alike. Today you must arm yourself with concise and clear information in order to firmly assess both the opportunity and potential threat afforded by open source software within your own organization and across competitive markets.