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Open Source Software Adoption in Hong Kong

Name of Survey:

Open Source Software Adoption in Hong Kong

Survey Background:

Open Source software is defined as a free software programme that grants users the freedom to use, modify, and redistribute the code of the software. For most of the companies in Hong Kong, their computers are operated in a Windows environment, including a Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office. These are not Open Source. Open Source alternatives do exist. However, the popularity of Open Source software in Hong Kong is affected by its compatibility with the existing computer environment adopted by most companies. Sponsored by the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau (CITB) of the Hong Kong SAR Government, HKPC conducted a survey from September 2003 to February 2004 on “Open Source Software Adoption in Hong Kong”.

Survey Objectives:

• To monitor the extent of Open Source software adoption by companies in Hong Kong

• To understand the problems, benefits, concerns, future plans and support requirements for Open Source software adoption

• To provide crucial information for deriving Open Source software promotion strategies

Funded Organization / Implementation Agent:

This project was sponsored by the CITB, Hong Kong SAR Government. HKPC was the implementation agent.

Survey Period:

• September 2003 – February 2004

Sample Size & Methodology:

In this survey, a total of 3,933 local companies were interviewed by telephone using a probability-sampling method. Furthermore, a focus group discussion and telephone interviews were conducted to collect opinions from 81 professional Open Source users. According to the findings, the stages of Open Source software deployment in Hong Kong can be grouped into four categories:

• No knowledge, not aware
• Aware of the software, some knowledge, but no adoption or plan to adopt Open Source
• Prepare to go for Open Source
• Already adopted

Highlights of the Survey Findings (February 2004):

The Survey found that 25% of the active establishments in Hong Kong are aware of Open Source and they have some knowledge of it. Among the establishments that are aware of Open Source and using PCs or having plans to use PCs in the next 12 months (24% of total active establishments), a high percentage (66%) of them are not prepared to move to Open Source, while 9% have adopted Open Source for some time, 3% have planned to adopt Open Source within the coming 12 months, 8% have installed Open Source software for trial run, and 14% have provided their staff members with relevant training.

The most popular types of Open Source software quoted are operating system and server for companies that have adopted or have plans to adopt Open Source within the coming 12 months. Redhat Linux is regarded as the dominating Open Source operating system, followed by Debian, FreeBSD, Mandrake, Suse, Thiz and Xteam Linux, whereas the most popular types of servers are web servers and email servers.

Enquiry

Ms Psyche Liu
Strategic Information & Intelligence
Tel: (852) 2788 5815
E-mail: psyche@hkpc.org  

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