"Open-source solutions used to be adopted quietly by company
boffins who snuck in an Apache Web server or an open-source
development tool suite under the philosophy 'It's easier to get
forgiveness than permission' (not to mention 'It's easier to do it
with open-source tools than to get an IT budget').
"That's no longer the case, according to a survey of IT and
business executives and managers, conducted in late April 2008 by
CIO.com. The survey, collecting data from 328 respondents, showed
that more than half the respondents (53 percent) are using
open-source applications in their organization today, and an
additional 10 percent plan to do so in the next year. For nearly
half, 44 percent, open-source applications are considered equally
with proprietary solutions during the acquisition process..."