Open-source software maker Red Hat Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal first-quarter profit jumped 17 percent year-over-year, driven by strong demand for its Linux software as well as sales of new products and subscription-based services.

2007 is shaping up to be a banner year for open source companies. SourceForge, which hosts almost 160,000 projects, just posted fiscal year 2007 revenues that showed a hefty 35 percent increase over 2006. Red Hat posted a 28 percent revenue increase on the year. And Novell's Suse is valued at approximately $210 million.

In a time when Microsoft is feeling the full impact of the global economic downturn, the open-source Linux operating system is flourishing.

New York, June 15, 2011 – BalaBit IT Security announced an increase of 59 percent on a year-on-year basis in 2010. According to industry and analyst predictions last year there was a slight increase on the IT security market, where the drivers were the compliance related investments.

The number of phones shipped using Google's Android platform is set to grow much faster than the iPhone this year, estimates from Strategy Analytics maintain today. Devices like the T-Mobile G1 have just a small fraction of shipments today but are expected to grow 900 percent in 2009 as multiple extra smartphones launch and more carriers come onboard.

The Mexican unit of US Linux operating systems integrator Red Hat expects revenues to increase 100% during its fiscal year 2010, which will end February 28.

Sun Microsystems' most recent quarter took a hit from a slumping U.S. economy, according to Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Revenue from Sun's server computers and storage products fell 2.8 percent. The company plans up to 2,500 job cuts as it seeks to balance expenses with growth.

The council of the Italian region of Puglia is about to approve the law proposed last December that will make the use of open source and open standards mandatory for the region's public administrations, according to news reports.

Compiere, a small open source ERP software provider, is on track to grow its business 50 percent this year, driving 80 percent of company revenues through the channel. Next up, the company plans to accelerate its SaaS and on-premise relationships in 2010. Here’s the scoop.