The Economics of Open Source Software Development - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0444527699 ISBN 13: 9780444527691

Publisher: Elsevier Science Ltd, 2006

Synopsis

Open Source Software (OSS) development appears to present a stark contrast to traditional production and innovation methods and an unlikely contestant in the marketplace. Some of the most striking features are that OSS development is based on contributions of volunteer programmers, that these programmers only associated with each other through informal communities, that the resulting software products are made available for free, and that this unconventional development method is able to produce software of high complexity and extraordinary quality. Obviously, the emergence of software has fundamentally changed the software business. The simple facts that production is carried out by voluntary private programmers and that the marketable outcomes are supplied to consumers for free, have resulted in far-reaching effects on market structures, business models, and innovation processes in the software industry. While incumbents had to adapt their strategies to this newly emerging competition, OSS-based firms had to develop viable business models enabling them to generate profits. These fundamental changes in the software industry have subsequently attracted the interest of analysts, business people and research in economics and management science. This book fills a substantial gap in this field. It serves as an invaluable reference for all those interested in OSS, and provides information that is broad in scope.

About this title

Review

"The topic of open source software development is truly interesting, and very timely. There is clearly a need for a book like this on the economics of the phenomenon. This book, due to its analytical and theoretical focus, will be a great complement to the many books that have been published on the phenomenon....The editorial team is highly accomplished and well regarded in the research community. They are very well known for the contributions to the economic theory on open source software, and I have personally been referencing their work for several years...The list of authors is very impressive and the articles are really great. The book is certainly going to attract a very wide readership based on the editors very high recognition, the list of authors, and the topics of the chapters. I truly enjoyed reading the chapters."

Professor Georg von Krogh, Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation, Department of Management, Technology and Economics, ETH Zurich

Synopsis

Open Source Software (OSS) development appears to present a stark contrast to traditional production and innovation methods and an unlikely contestant in the marketplace. Some of the most striking features are that OSS development is based on contributions of volunteer programmers, that these programmers only associated with each other through informal communities, that the resulting software products are made available for free, and that this unconventional development method is able to produce software of high complexity and extraordinary quality. Obviously, the emergence of software has fundamentally changed the software business. The simple facts that production is carried out by voluntary private programmers and that the marketable outcomes are supplied to consumers for free, have resulted in far-reaching effects on market structures, business models, and innovation processes in the software industry. While incumbents had to adapt their strategies to this newly emerging competition, OSS-based firms had to develop viable business models enabling them to generate profits.

These fundamental changes in the software industry have subsequently attracted the interest of analysts, business people and research in economics and management science. This book fills a substantial gap in this field. It serves as an invaluable reference for all those interested in OSS, and provides information that is broad in scope.

Edition details

• Publisher: Elsevier Science Ltd
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0444527699
• ISBN 13: 9780444527691
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 296
• Editor: Bitzer Jurgen, Schroder Philipp J.H.