FOSS encourages innovation
Innovation is strength, not a liability, for OSS/FS. InformationWeek’s survey of business-technology professionals “Open-Source Software Use Joins The Mix”, published in November 2004, found that OSS/FS “is believed to create more opportunities for innovation than commercial or proprietary software.” Nearly 60% of the companies with annual revenue of $100 million or more stated that OSS/FS creates more opportunities for innovation. Small businesses (less than $100 million), where much innovation takes place, agreed even more strongly; “almost three-quarters report open-source software readily promotes more opportunities for IT innovation.” A later InformationWeek Research Brief “Linux Outlook” published February 2005 surveyed 439 business technology professionals. In this survey, two-thirds contend that open-source spurs more opportunities for technical innovation, and half (47%) say it encourages business innovation. This is consistent with previous surveys of expectations.
The February 2001 research paper Distributed Knowledge and the Global Organization of Software Development by Anca Metiu and Bruce Kogut (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) reports on field observations of companies in four countries. They state that, “the open development model opens up the ability to contribute to innovation on a global basis. It recognizes that the distribution of natural intelligence does not correspond to the monopolization of innovation by the richest firms or richest countries. It is this gap between the distribution of ability and the distribution of opportunity that the web will force companies to recognize, and to realign their development strategies. For the young engineer in India, China, or Israel - who cannot or does not want to come to the Silicon Valley, or the Research Triangle, or Munich - is increasingly able to contribute to world innovation.” In 2000, a Forrester Research study interviewed 2,500 IT managers and found that 84% of them forecast that open source software would be the spark behind major innovations throughout the industry.
Software developers themselves report that OSS/FS projects are often innovative. According to the BCG study of OSS/FS developers, 61.7% of surveyed developers stated that their OSS/FS project was either their most creative effort or was equally as creative as their most creative experience. Government employees also report that OSS/FS supports innovation; Federal Computer Week (FCW) published the article “Linux use drives innovation: FBI info-sharing project is one of a growing list of open-source successes”. The article declares that the “open-source operating system [Linux]’s flexibility allowed engineers greater freedom to tailor technology to their needs” and that “Linux is well-suited to federal projects with small teams and scarce resources... many Linux applications, such as the Census Bureau’s Fast Facts service, can support an entire enterprise.”
Yuwei Lin’s PhD thesis (at the UK’s University of York, Science and Technologies Studies Unit, Department of Sociology), Hacking Practices and Software Development: A Social Worlds Analysis of ICT Innovation and the Role of Free/Libre Open Source Software examines the social world of OSS/FS developers and its implications. Its major findings are (I quote but use American spelling):
References
David, A. (2007). Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers! Retrieved from http://www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_why.html
Other important sources
Robert, C & Richard C. (2004) . Free and Open Source Software. Overview and Preliminary Guidelines for the Government of Canada. Retrieved from www.sita.co.za/FOSS/Gov_Canada-OSS_Guide-Dec04.pdf
Allen, G. (2008). Good to Great FOSS: Learnings from Africa . Retrieved from www.aspirationtech.org/files/GoodToGreatFOSS-LearningsFromAfrica.pdf
Kenneth, W.(2004). Free/Open Source Software: Government Policy. Retrieved from http://www.sita.co.za/FOSS/Gov-OSS_Guide-04.pdf
The February 2001 research paper Distributed Knowledge and the Global Organization of Software Development by Anca Metiu and Bruce Kogut (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) reports on field observations of companies in four countries. They state that, “the open development model opens up the ability to contribute to innovation on a global basis. It recognizes that the distribution of natural intelligence does not correspond to the monopolization of innovation by the richest firms or richest countries. It is this gap between the distribution of ability and the distribution of opportunity that the web will force companies to recognize, and to realign their development strategies. For the young engineer in India, China, or Israel - who cannot or does not want to come to the Silicon Valley, or the Research Triangle, or Munich - is increasingly able to contribute to world innovation.” In 2000, a Forrester Research study interviewed 2,500 IT managers and found that 84% of them forecast that open source software would be the spark behind major innovations throughout the industry.
Software developers themselves report that OSS/FS projects are often innovative. According to the BCG study of OSS/FS developers, 61.7% of surveyed developers stated that their OSS/FS project was either their most creative effort or was equally as creative as their most creative experience. Government employees also report that OSS/FS supports innovation; Federal Computer Week (FCW) published the article “Linux use drives innovation: FBI info-sharing project is one of a growing list of open-source successes”. The article declares that the “open-source operating system [Linux]’s flexibility allowed engineers greater freedom to tailor technology to their needs” and that “Linux is well-suited to federal projects with small teams and scarce resources... many Linux applications, such as the Census Bureau’s Fast Facts service, can support an entire enterprise.”
Yuwei Lin’s PhD thesis (at the UK’s University of York, Science and Technologies Studies Unit, Department of Sociology), Hacking Practices and Software Development: A Social Worlds Analysis of ICT Innovation and the Role of Free/Libre Open Source Software examines the social world of OSS/FS developers and its implications. Its major findings are (I quote but use American spelling):
- As a community of open source practices, the FLOSS social world allows diverse actors to engage in the innovation process and therefore contains more innovation resources than other relatively conventional software models.
- The strategic collaboration between the public (i.e., the free software community) and the private (i.e., information technologies corporations) sectors symbolizes a pattern of hybrid innovation that entails complex communications and networks.
- Tacit knowledge anchored in everyday experiences is peculiarly valued in a community-based innovation system where social networking and information sharing are undergoing vigorously.
- The development of FLOSS democratizes [the] software innovation process and allows lay people to develop their understanding and knowledge of a shared problem/issue, especially through the web, to challenge established views on the issue.
References
David, A. (2007). Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers! Retrieved from http://www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_why.html
Other important sources
Robert, C & Richard C. (2004) . Free and Open Source Software. Overview and Preliminary Guidelines for the Government of Canada. Retrieved from www.sita.co.za/FOSS/Gov_Canada-OSS_Guide-Dec04.pdf
Allen, G. (2008). Good to Great FOSS: Learnings from Africa . Retrieved from www.aspirationtech.org/files/GoodToGreatFOSS-LearningsFromAfrica.pdf
Kenneth, W.(2004). Free/Open Source Software: Government Policy. Retrieved from http://www.sita.co.za/FOSS/Gov-OSS_Guide-04.pdf