In der Studie Open Source in Global Software: Market Impact, Disruption, and Business Models analysiert das Marktforschungs- und Beratungsunternehmen IDC die Auswirkungen von Freier Software auf die IT-Industrie. Insgesamt sei das Aufkommen von Open Source Software
“[…] the most significant all-encompassing and long-term trend that the software industry has seen since the early 1980s.”