Open Sources 2.0

Part I. Open Source: Competition and Evolution

In Section 1, we present essays tied directly to the history and development of open source software. These essays can be loosely grouped into three categories:

Essays on the software development process (Baker, DiBona, Allison, and Laurie)

Essays on business competition and open source (Olson, Murdock, Asay, Walli, and Nelson)

Essays on policy issues related to open source (Seltzer; Gonzalez-Barahona; Sharma and Adkins; Yeo, Liu, and Saxena; and Souza)

The essays on the development process provide a natural extension from the original Open Sources. These essays explore the community and process that open source developers comprise, and explore the subtle similarities and differences between open source and proprietary development.

With the original publication of Open Sources in 1999, the idea of an open source business model was something of a novelty. Today, we see in these essays, that open source, both in its licensing structure and in the commoditizing effect of its distribution model, has become a powerful tool in the hands of businesses large and small.

One critical aspect of the business dynamics behind open source is the desire to avoid vendor lock-in through proprietary software, and to control one’s own technology destiny. While these issues matter to businesses, they have become fundamental policy issues in Europe and developing nations. Control of technology resources in the coming decades will likely matter as much as control ...