Open source software is starting to make serious money at last.

While open-source software remains available for free to programmers, or anyone, worldwide. Many outfits have adopted a dual-license business model in dealing with open-source. While the basic software is free, but fees are charged for premium versions or services.

It means that profit makers get lower development costs and can speed up release dates. The ones that are making the serious cash off open source are IBM, Oracle and Sun which have big teams of open source developer communities working for them. 

Bruce Guptill, an analyst and consultant at Saugatuck Technologies claims that two-thirds of today's open-source development projects are being done by commercial vendors. Every large software company now includes "significant elements" of open-source software in its offerings, Guptill says.

It is starting to look as if while Linux is never going to reach the desktop, Open Source material will be powering most of the next generation of software, according to the Investor.