The Linux Foundation along with Yeoman Technology Group have released the results of a survey that polled members of the Linux Foundation End User Council and government agencies, and private organizations. Of the nearly 2,000 Linux users polled, roughly 20 percent of the respondents represented companies with US$ 500 million in revenues or employed at least 500 employees.

The results are encouraging. Of those polled, 66 percent choose Linux for new deployments over Windows and Unix. Similarly 68 percent of those polled are in the process of or have already migrated from Windows or Unix to Linux. As a result of increased adoption, the survey found that Linux use is expected to grow by 76.4 percent during the next five years.

Some other interesting results gleaned from the survey were also encouraging. For example, traditionally the primary driver for Linux adoption has been cost-effectiveness. This survey found that the primary driver is now technological superiority. That said, 40.4 percent of respondents indicated that the recent economic downturn has caused their companies to increase Linux use, though 58.6 percent say the recession has had no effect on adoption. The vast majority of respondents (86.5 percent) believe that Linux continues to improve.

Cloud adoption was surprisingly low with only 26 percent of respondents planning to move services or applications to the cloud in the next year, as opposed to the 40 percent majority that has no plans to move at this time. The biggest obstacle to Linux adoption is an unsurprising one. Driver availability was the primary concern about adoption, followed closely by interoperability.

In all, the results were positive for the adoption of Linux and perceptions of the operating system as a whole, speaking volumes about adoption and the future. If Linux grows at the rate predicted in the survey, Linux IT professionals will be in high demand.