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Open source software development: Some historical perspectives
by Alessandro Nuvolari
http://www.firstmonday.org/ISSUES/issue10_10/nuvolari/
Abstract
In this paper we suggest that historical studies of technology can help us to account for some, perplexing (at least for traditional economic reasoning) features of open source software development. From a historical perspective, open source software seems to be a particular case of what Robert C. Allen has termed "collective invention." We explore the interpretive value of this historical parallel in detail, comparing open source software with two remarkable episodes of nineteenth century technical advances.
Open Source Software’s Expanding Role in the Enterprise
Open source has emerged as one of the more important IT trends in this young century. The application of open source methodologies has grown significantly in scope, as has its usage, over a relatively short period of time. Once evaluated by companies, open source software is frequently adopted and has taken its place alongside commercial software, often without regard to the ways in which it is different. In this study, more than half the companies that are using open source are using in for mission critical applications. However, because there are differences between open source and commercial software, customers want their concerns about open source software addressed before they incorporate open source more completely in their IT portfolios. Forrester Consulting, under Unisys sponsorship, undertook an in-depth study of how open source software is being used in North America and Europe to better understand the important role it is playing in IT. The study also examined the barriers and benefits that open source software represents to enterprise customers.
