DigitalOcean releases the “Currents Open Source 2019” report
DigitalOcean released the Currents Open Source 2019, and this year’s theme is still the open-source community. They surveyed more than 5,800 respondents from around the world to find out what they think about the status and future of the open-source community.
The survey found that most people remain highly optimistic about the current and future of the open-source community. Compared to last year’s survey, open-source participation has increased by 8%. 60% said they have increased their investment in open source because they like open source, want to learn new skills or contribute to achieving their goals. The young people are most optimistic about the future development of the community. 70% of respondents under the age of 25 believe that open source technology will be more sustainable than any other generation.
Regarding the inclusiveness of the open-source community, respondents believe that there is still much room for improvement. The majority of respondents (58%) considered the open source community to be friendly and inclusive, while 18% said they felt excluded from the community. Overall, only 44% of people consider open source diversity to be “very good.” Younger groups consider the open-source community to be more friendly, inclusive, and collaborative.
Views on the impact of tech giants on the open-source environment remain divided. Some people remain skeptical of the intentions, contributions, and long-term commitments of these companies’ open source projects and development. 38% of respondents believe that open source licenses from large technology companies harm the community, saying that they violate the nature of the open-source and restrict access to projects. In terms of friendliness to the open-source community, Google and Microsoft are leading the way, and Apple is seen as clearly unfriendly to open source.
For the status quo and future of the open-source community, people are generally very optimistic. A large number of developers say that they are increasingly involved in open source, and they are part of the community on the grounds of enjoyment and learning. 92% said they would continue to contribute to open source projects, at least to some extent.
