More than half of organisations now believe that the benefits of open source software outweigh the negatives, according to new research by business intelligence firm Actuate.

The latest Annual Open Source Survey of around 1,000 business and IT professionals revealed that firms are more receptive to open source software in Europe than elsewhere, attracted by lower total cost of ownership.

The UK came second in terms of open source use with 43 per cent of respondents saying they are actively using open source software.

The survey also found that the number of firms believing that the benefits of open source outweigh the inhibitors rose from 45.3 per cent in 2007 to 54 per cent this year.

Persistent barriers to adoption remain, however, including lack of in-house skills to implement open source software, and a perception that there are difficulties with long-term support.

"This is another validation that there is increasing adoption of open source across the world and in various industries," said Actuate senior vice president for marketing Nobby Akiha.

"Not only is awareness high but increasingly adoption is high, which validates the fact that people are really using the software they're downloading."