"The Success of Open Source" by Steven Weber

Much of the innovative programming that powers the Internet, creates operating systems, and produces software is the result of "open source" code, that is, code that is freely distributed--as opposed to being kept secret--by those who write it. Leaving source code open has generated some of the most sophisticated developments in computer technology, including, most notably, Linux and Apache, which pose a significant challenge to Microsoft in the marketplace. As Steven Weber discusses, open source's success in a highly competitive industry has subverted many assumptions about how businesses are run, and how intellectual products are created and protected.

Weber argues that the success of open source is not a freakish exception to economic principles. The open source community is guided by standards, rules, decision making procedures, and sanctioning mechanisms. Weber explains the political and economic dynamics of this mysterious but important market development.