Okay, this article is not technically related to our friends in Waltham or Redmond directly, but I just had to share anyhow.
Evans Data has released its latest survey of software developers and it looks like everything is coming up Milhouse.
The research firm has conducted its Open Source/Linux Development survey 14 times over the last 7 years. Although the firm limits the survey to developers with Linux experience, “Historically, the target platform was dominated by Windows,” says John Andrews, principal analyst with Evans. “Regardless of what kind of developer you are, you’re still trying to make a living, and target the operating system that’s controlling the market.”
However, in the most recent survey, the developers’ forecast of their target platform has changed. For the first time, these developers said that in the next 12 to 18 months they expect to be developing more Linux apps than Windows apps.
There is more, including how the developers consider Linux to be more secure than every flavor of Windows, Mac OS X and even Unix. 81% of respondents state their Linux servers have "never been compromised by a security attack".
Overall, this could be a clear signal that Linux and Open Source are reaching critical mass in the marketplace, since even Mr. Ballmer knows the benefits of having Developers! Developers! (My fave) Developers! on your platform's side.
Of course, that lesson may have been lost on Ron Hovsepian, since the Novell-Microsoft deal has done nothing but polarize the very developers that supply them with their products.