Novell finds big promises for open source in 2009

• More than half plan to "accelerate" Linux adoption "this year."
• That's 72% are looking at this on the server.
• And 68% looking at this on the desktop.

Personally I'm actively evaluating growing hair this year. There is a huge difference between "actively evaluating" something and actually doing it. I will believe it when I see it.

It should also be noted that, for most of those who participated in the survey, this is not a binary question. Most shops are mixed shops, with some proprietary stuff and some open source software.

It's easy to virtualize Windows desktops within a Linux framework -- this does not mean everyone on the staff can tell the Linux penguin from the one in Happy Feet.

There are serious positive indications here. There's greater-than-average interest in Asia, and greater-than-average interest in retail.

I can see that panning out, especially the retail segment, as so many VARs can now push a Linux-based solution, with better hardware, for so much less than the Windows price (and with better margins).

I just think we are well past the stage of open source promises, and heavily into the rise of open source in the mass market. Surveys like this need to get more granular to provide really useful data.