Open source software (OSS) has now become a well recognised and utilised brand. A brand that, if we were to get a broad sweeping perception poll on, would generally stand for free, fair and cost effective. However, despite this growth, the battle between open source and traditional software still rages on whereby the pros and cons for each can be endlessly debated.

Openads, formerly known as phpAdsNew, is one of the more successful open source development projects. Its online advertising software is used by many thousands of domain owners who want to make a profit on their Web content by selling advertisements.

Norway has become the the latest country to pledge funds for public sector use of open source software. Minister of Government Adminstration and Reform Heidi Grande Roeys is granting 2 million kroner ($285,000) to the national center for free software, and the terms of the deal are interesting.

Soon three quarters of the world's smartphones will be running free software.

A UK company says its switch from Linux to Windows will save it £1 million (almost $A2.3 million). How does that work?

Cenatic, Spain's open source center, has published a model to help calculate cost savings that are possible by switching to free and open source software on desktop PCs. Switching a basic government desktop PC configuration to free and open source, for example, will save some 5000 euro per desktop per year, Cenatic's model shows.

" It sounds impossible to me as well. But these really are the numbers from Mozilla, the open source project that started at Netscape, was morphed into a non-profit foundation, and most recently, the Mozilla Corporation – a taxable entity owned by the Mozilla Foundation.

Openbravo — maker of open source ERP (enterprise resource planning) and POS (point of sale) software — is taking a bow. The company, which is approaching 100 channel partners, says its ERP and POS software together have generated more than 1 million downloads.

“Information on the total use and value of open source in government is not held centrally and could not be obtained except at disproportionate cost.”

But open source software did “play an important role” in major government applications including the Directgov web portal, the online vehicle licensing system and Jobcentre Plus’s system to help people to find work, Merron added.