What Is open source software?

Open source software (OSS) is thriving, with widespread adoption across various sectors and an increasing number of projects and downloads. Statistics show a significant reliance on OSS, with the majority of commercial codebases incorporating it. While this growth offers numerous benefits, it also presents challenges related to security and dependency management.

OSS licenses, such as MIT, Apache 2.0, and GPL, define how software can be used and redistributed. These licenses support a wide range of use cases, from commercial applications to research and education.

Most OSS is developed collaboratively by individuals, nonprofits, or companies. Projects are often hosted on platforms like GitHub or GitLab, where developers manage code, track issues, and accept contributions from the community.

This is part of a series of articles about open source AI

Key open source software statistics

Open source is the foundation of modern software

Open source software is used in nearly every organization and makes up the majority of most codebases. Adoption is broad across all company sizes and industries.

  1. 96% of commercial codebases include open source components
  2. 77% of the code within those codebases is open source
  3. 70–90% of the code in an average software project is open source
  4. 96% of organizations either maintained or increased their OSS usage in the past year
  5. 26% of organizations reported a significant increase in open source usage

Sources: OpenLogic State of Open Source Report 2025, Synopsis OSSRA Report 2024, Linux Foundation (2022)

Regional perspectives on open source

Across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, adoption trends show convergence, though regional nuances exist in priorities and optimism. A Linux Foundation’s 2024 Global Spotlight Insights Report revealed the following statistics.

North America

  1. 77% of organizations believe open source software (OSS) leads to improved security outcomes.
  2. 59% are increasing OSS usage by defining a clear open source strategy.
  3. 56% focus on secure software development practices to support OSS adoption.
  4. 51% are implementing automated policy tooling to manage OSS use.
  5. 55% support OSS contributions by allocating employee time to participate in projects.
  6. 55% fund OSS initiatives directly to encourage contributions.
  7. 48% promote OSS through internal education and training efforts.

Europe

  1. 82% agree that software developed with public funds should be released as open source, compared to 77% globally.
  2. 54% support OSS adoption through formal open source strategies.
  3. 49% prioritize secure software development to increase OSS use.
  4. 48% provide legal, compliance, and security support to facilitate OSS integration.
  5. 57% allocate employee time specifically for OSS contribution.
  6. 55% invest in OSS project funding as a contribution mechanism.
  7. 52% expand OSS involvement by offering structured education programs.

Asia-Pacific

  1. 34% of organizations report regulatory uncertainty as a barrier to OSS, a lower rate than the global average.
  2. 37% believe that regulatory frameworks will positively impact OSS adoption in the region.
  3. 51% are increasing OSS use through defined strategies.
  4. 49% promote secure development practices to support OSS growth.
  5. 49% rely on training and guidance to expand OSS usage.
  6. 52% prioritize OSS education to boost contributions.
  7. 50% implement clear internal policies for employee participation in OSS.
  8. 48% allocate employee time to directly contribute to open source projects.

Industry engagement with open source

The Linux Foundation study examined 16 industries, later grouped into six sectors. IT and media lead in OSS adoption and contribution, while other industries show sector-specific benefits.

Cross-industry IT

  1. Top benefits: Interoperability: 62%, innovation: 59%, reduced development costs: 53%
  2. Most benefited technologies: AI/ML (50%), operating systems (33%), cloud/containers (30%)
  3. Top OSS contributions: Cloud/containers (33%), CI/CD (30%), web & app dev (28%)

Telecommunications and media

  1. Top benefits: Innovation: 61%, productivity: 56%, transparency: 53%
  2. Most benefited technologies: AI/ML (44%), cloud/containers (34%), operating systems (34%)
  3. Top OSS contributions: Cloud/containers (25%), CI/CD (22%), networking (22%)

Industrial and manufacturing

  1. Most benefited technologies: Operating systems (37%), AI/ML (33%), cybersecurity (30%)
  2. Top OSS contributions: operating systems (23%), IoT & embedded (21%), cloud/containers (17%)

Government and public services

  1. Most benefited technologies: AI/ML (47%), operating systems (37%), analytics & data science (30%)
  2. Top OSS contributions: Web & app dev (20%), operating systems (19%), AI/ML (16%)

Healthcare and life sciences

  1. Most benefited technologies: AI/ML (37%), cybersecurity (34%), analytics & data science (27%)
  2. Top OSS contributions: AI/ML (22%), analytics & data science (17%), web & app dev (15%)

Financial services

  1. Top benefits: Interoperability (59%), reduced costs (54%), innovation (53%)
  2. Most benefited technologies: AI/ML (46%), cloud/containers (36%), CI/CD (32%)
  3. Top OSS contributions: DevOps (23%), CI/CD (23%), web & app dev (21%)

Explosive growth across ecosystems and downloads

Open source ecosystems are scaling rapidly, with trillions of package downloads and millions of new releases each year.

  1. NPM hit 4.5 trillion download requests in 2024, which represents 70% year-over-year growth
  2. PyPI is the fastest-growing ecosystem with 530 billion downloads in 2024, a 87% YoY increase
  3. Maven Central processed 1.5 trillion downloads in 2024
  4. NuGet (for .NET) saw 159 billion requests in the same period
  5. Since 2019, open source ecosystems have collectively served over 6.6 trillion packages

Source: Sonatype State of the Software Supply Chain Report

Dependency overload and supply chain risk

Open source projects often rely on complex webs of dependencies, which increases maintenance, security, and upgrade challenges.

  1. Projects frequently include hundreds or even thousands of dependencies
  2. Developers must monitor both direct and transitive dependencies for vulnerabilities
  3. Maven Central projects average 28 versions per component, increasing upgrade complexity
  4. Ecosystems are struggling with the quality of packages as spam, forks, and outdated components multiply

Source: Sonatype State of the Software Supply Chain Report

Security vulnerabilities are surging

As usage increases, so does security scrutiny. The number of reported vulnerabilities is climbing, reflecting better awareness and deeper auditing.

  1. CVE reports increased from 6,457 in 2016 to 28,961 in 2023, over 4x growth
  2. 512,847 malicious packages were identified in the last year alone, a 156% increase YoY
  3. Since 2019, a total of 704,102 malicious packages have been discovered across ecosystems
  4. PyPI had to pause new uploads to combat the flood of spam and malware
  5. 41% of organizations using EOL software like CentOS and AngularJS failed compliance audits, nearly 3x the average failure rate

Sources: OpenLogic State of Open Source Report 2025, CVE Org Metrics, Sonatype State of the Software Supply Chain Report

Open source as a global growth market

The business of open source is booming, especially as companies seek flexible, secure, and cost-effective solutions during digital transformation.

  1. The global open source services market was valued at $25.03 billion in 2022
  2. It’s projected to reach $83.87 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 16.9% from 2023 to 2030
  3. North America held 26.96% of the market in 2022
  4. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region
  5. 53% of organizations said cost reduction is the top reason for adopting OSS — up from 37% last year
  6. Other key motivations: reduce vendor lock-in (33%), open standards (28%), community support (24%), and lower maintenance costs (22%)

Sources: Grand View Research Market Analysis Report, OpenLogic State of Open Source Report 2025

Instaclustr: Your trusted guide in the open source world

Instaclustr is a crucial partner for businesses navigating the expanding world of open source technology. As more companies turn to open source solutions to build innovative and powerful applications, they often face challenges in deploying, managing, and scaling these complex systems. This is precisely where Instaclustr steps in, offering a robust platform for managed services that simplifies the entire process. By providing fully managed and hosted versions of popular open source technologies like Apache Cassandra®, Apache Kafka®, PostgreSQL®, ClickHouse®, Cadence®, and OpenSearch®, Instaclustr empowers organizations to focus on their core business goals instead of getting bogged down by the complexities of infrastructure management.

The impact on businesses is transformative. With Instaclustr, companies can leverage the power of open source without needing to build a large, specialized team of in-house experts. This lowers the barrier to entry and significantly reduces operational overhead. The platform is designed for optimal performance and reliability, ensuring that critical applications run smoothly and can scale on demand. This support is vital for enterprises that depend on these technologies for everything from data processing to real-time analytics. By entrusting their infrastructure to Instaclustr, businesses gain a competitive edge, accelerating development cycles and ensuring their systems are secure, stable, and always available.

Beyond its commercial offerings, Instaclustr is also a dedicated contributor to the open source community. The company actively participates in the development and improvement of the technologies it supports, sharing its expertise and code to strengthen the ecosystem for everyone. This commitment ensures that the open source solutions themselves become more powerful and reliable over time. By balancing expert managed services with a genuine dedication to community collaboration, Instaclustr has established itself as a trusted guide, helping organizations confidently adopt and master open source technologies to drive growth and innovation.

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