The Success of Open Source

Weber argues that ensuring free distribution of code among computer programmers can create a more effective process for developing intellectual products. He suggests that the success of open source is not a freakish exception to economic principles and explains the political and economic dynamics of this critical market development.

Table of Contents:
Preface 1 Property and the Problem of Software 2 The Early History of Open Source 3 What Is Open Source and How Does It Work? 4 A Maturing Model of Production 5 Explaining Open Source: Microfoundations 6 Explaining Open Source: Macro-Organization 7 Business Models and the Law 8 The Code That Changed the World? Notes Index

About the Author :
Steven Weber is Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley.

Review :
In the world of open-source software, true believers can be a fervent bunch. Linux, for example, may act as a credo as well as an operating system. But there is much substance beyond zealotry, says Steven Weber, the author of The Success of Open Source...An open-source operating system offers its source code up to be played with, extended, debugged, and otherwise tweaked in an orgy of user collaboration. The author traces the roots of that ethos and process in the early years of computers...He also analyzes the interface between open source and the worlds of business and law, as well as wider issues in the clash between hierarchical structures and networks, a subject with relevance beyond the software industry to the war on terrorism. -- Nina C. Ayoub Chronicle of Higher Education 20040416 A valuable new account of the [open-source software] movement. -- Edward Rothstein New York Times 20040508 Weber's ideas are timely and informative for anyone who wants to explain or advocate Open Source...The Success of Open Source...gives a readable, thought-provoking, and occasionally funny account of what Open Source is and means, making it an extremely valuable resource for those who want to engage and discuss these issues on an intellectual level. -- Joshua Daniel Franklin Slashdot 20040517 Weber sees the central issues raised by [open source software] as property, motivation, organisation and governance. He uses a study of the open source movement to illuminate the motivation of programmers and the way [open source software] projects are co-ordinated and governed, and to ask if there are lessons in it for society...Weber's work brings to mind an earlier book, The Machine that Changed the World, a study of how Toyota's production system transformed the way cars are made everywhere. That book made two simple points: that the Toyota 'system' was a car, and that it was not uniquely Japanese. Steve Weber's book can be--and is--similarly summarised: 'Open source is not a piece of software, and it is not unique to a group of hackers.' And it has the potential to change the world. -- John Naughton The Observer 20040606 While much in Weber's account will be familiar to anyone concerned with this debate, his book should make this extraordinary phenomenon understandable to a much wider audience...[The Success of Open Source] deserve[s] the careful attention of a wide audience, including, especially, governments. -- Lawrence Lessig London Review of Books 20050818 Weber's book deserves the glowing response it has received within and outwith the computing community, and provides a careful, thought-provoking study of an important phenomenon of the twentieth century. For these reasons alone it is worth reading. And while it will of course appeal to those interested or participating in the Open Source movement, for the information professional, in particular, it offers helpful insight into the advantages and limits of sustainable models of cooperative effort that do not depend on remuneration or hierarchy. This is particularly pertinent as libraries increasingly make available metadata they have created about digital or physical assets, and as they are involved in the management of digital assets...[I]nformation professionals are increasingly called on to administer, arbitrate, and communicate about digital rights. Many of those they interact with in this capacity, especially in an academic setting, will have been influenced by the Open Source movement or have parallel attitudes to collaborative work -- this book may assist them to develop a more nuanced articulation of opinion and a greater understanding of the issues. -- R. John Robertson Library Review 20060101