To some degree, open source is already present throughout the Internet of Things value chain. Cloud apps that collect and analyze data are heavily dependent on open source software and standards, for example.
And many of the individual IoT devices and gateways run on some version of Linux. “Device manufacturers have taken up open source software at the operating system level at a 40 to 50 percent share, but there’s also a lot of proprietary and legacy software embedded in devices and that will continue,” says Bill Weinberg, senior director at Black Duck Software.
“And applications will probably be proprietary because they represent an opportunity, at least in the mind of device manufacturers, to provide exclusive differentiation,” he adds.