The Success of Open Source by Steven Weber

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.Traditionally, intellectual property law has allowed companies to control knowledge and has guarded the rights of the innovator, at the expense of industry-wide cooperation. In turn, engineers of new software code are richly rewarded; but, as Weber shows, in spite of the conventional wisdom that innovation is driven by the promise of individual and corporate wealth, ensuring the free distribution of code among computer programmers can empower a more effective process for building intellectual products. In the case of Open Source, independent programmers--sometimes hundreds or thousands of them--make unpaid contributions to software that develops organically, through trial and error.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, decisionmaking procedures, and sanctioning mechanisms. Weber explains the political and economic dynamics of this mysterious but important market development.

Genres: Nonfiction, Programming, Technology, Business, Software, Computer Science, Computers

Paperback

First published April 30, 2004

About the author

Steven Weber is Professor in the School of Information and Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a global leader in the analysis of issues at the intersection of technology markets, intellectual property, and international politics. His books include The Success of Open Source and, with Bruce W. Jentleson, The End of Arrogance: America in the Global Competition of Ideas.

Reviews

[Bob S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author takes a Political Economics perspective that raises two important questions about Open Source:
1) Why do people participate without traditional incentive mechanisms (coercion and money)?
2) How does a largely unstructured mass produce a useful output, without the benefit of traditional coordination mechanisms (the firm and the market)?

The text includes a very interesting history of the Open Source movement. As a Business Analyst (BA), this was particularly interesting to me, because the focus is on the processes through which conflicts were resolved (or not). Since all projects experience conflict over goals, choice of solutions, pace of progress, or personality (to name just a few), this presentation is relevant to just about any project (not just open source projects).

Ultimately the author generates a picture of an alternative organizing principle (or set of principles) that underlies successful initiatives operating in conditions that characterize Open Source projects. As a BA, with interests in process in general, not just in software development processes, the larger ramifications of this alternate organizing principle are quite interesting. For example, at one point the author considers religious traditions as comparable to open source code bases. The comparison works because most religions have been re-organized as access to some body of wisdom literature, making them "non-excludable and non-rival" (as opposed to access to e.g. religious ceremony). That is, anybody who wants to read the Gospels or the Upanishads can, and their reading does not preclude another individual from reading the same source. This has consequences for the organization of the religious community -- in fact the same consequences faced by the open source community (and especially its leadership).

At another point the author maps open source organizational style to the field of International Relations, finding it useful to contrast a "network" organizational style with the traditional "hierarchy" organizational style that formal governments share with the Firm (the closed-source analogue). Particularly interesting is the insight that the space in which organizations of the two styles interact is unmapped, yet vital to emerging conditions in the 21st century.

I think this book will appeal to many different audiences for very different reasons. If you want a better understanding of the history and social dynamics, I highly recommend this book. For BAs looking for something they can immediately apply in the realm of proprietary (hierarchically organized) initiatives, there are other texts available. However Project Managers, who often need to operate without direct supervisorial authority, despite the larger organization's hierarchical structure, should find the discussion of the nature of open source leadership (along with the case studies of its success and failure) quite helpful in their own work.

[CTEP]

This book was incredibly interesting. Weber did an excellent job of explaining the success of open source, and how it is the perfect model for what other systems could be (medical, genomic, community, etc.).

I think it would make most sense to explain by chapter – don’t read this part if you just want to know if I suggest reading it.

Property and the Problem of Software

First, we have the “’Open Source Definition’:

-Source code must be distributed with the software or otherwise made available for no more than the cost of distribution.

-Anyone may redistribute the software for free, without royalies or licensing fees to the author.

-Anyone may modify the software or derive other software from it, and then distribute the modified software under the same terms.”
-Steven Weber

Basically, Weber uses this chapter to tell us why companies such as Microsoft use proprietary source code to make a profit, when the ‘sharing’ of open source is such a better way to catch bugs, allow source code to ‘evolve’, and bring more information to people everywhere.

The Early History of Open Source

This was interesting to see who exactly was involved in the ‘creation’ of open source, and who tried to stop it. Companies like AT&T, Microsoft, and Bell felt the threat of the open source community and tried to do all sorts of asinine things to stop them from proceeding with certain projects.

What is Open Source and How Does It Work?

Weber introduces the community of open source in this chapter. It shows the organization involved in OS and why it works. “The key element of the open source process, as an ideal type, is voluntary participation and voluntary selection of tasks” (p62). It’s all about people wanting to contribute because they want to see the end product be a successful one. Or, rather, they want to see the product continuing to evolve. The way Weber explains the structure of OS shows that this community is all about change and the common good. And it makes sense. With all of these people openly working together towards the same goal, so much more can happen so much more quickly and with many less ‘glitches’ along the way. [“With enough eyeballs all bugs are shallow” (Eric Raymond).]

A Maturing Model of Production

This talks about the sort of ‘spread’ of OS and the partners involved (Linux, of course, shows up a lot throughout the whole book as an outstanding model of OS and its ideals.) Apache, DEC, and many other evolutionary organizations are mentioned.

Explaining Open Source: Microfoundations

This chapter focused on the motivations of individuals to contribute to OS. An entire community works together to make these software programs evolve, for what? Read it.

Explaining Open Source: Macro-Organization

This is the larger picture. The OS community is all about what someone can do, not their credentials. And so if you do something well, there is good chance you can be a leader in the OS community. (Thought Weber mentions that the leader depends on the followers rather than the followers depending on the leader. If you did not have followers, OS would sort of be a joke, as there would be no one working on its evolution and pointing out the bugs.) The grand governance of it all “is about setting parameters for voluntary relationships among autonomous parties,” (p172). He goes on to talk about ‘flaming’ people as a practice of sanctioning. If one takes away the general principles of OS (freedom, nondiscrimination and pragmatism) they are ‘flamed’ (shunned or ridiculed) by the OS community. This seems sort of harsh as I write it, but it is a good way to keep people from trying to fork an OS project into proprietary software. Even e-voting is involved in some projects that cannot decide which ‘way’ to take their OS program. It’s a very interesting chapter.

Business Models and the Law

This chapter was a little more boring. I’m not a fan of business. However, Weber did point out some good ‘business models’ and the difference in buying branded and unbranded software. I guess it was a little interesting. The pieces about law were much more – inspirational? He talks about GPL (General Public License), the DCMA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), the UCITA (the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act) and other acronyms and their different implications to the OS community.

The Code That Changed the World?

This was the motivational part. Weber gives examples of how these structures, communities, and OS itself can be spread to other aspects of the world.

ONCE AGAIN – How does this book relate to my AmeriCorps experience?

It is a great example of how communities can work together, support themselves and make things happens for the better of all. Forget corporations and their desire to buy and control everyone. Forget the government and their seemingly nonchalant way of pushing the people aside to do what they want. Communities have the power to create and distribute and use whatever they want. Depending on one another and getting back to the grassroots – that’s what OS is all about.

Do I recommend this book?

Of course I do. Just know that it is not the most thrilling book ever. But it will change your views on companies such as Microsoft and AT&T. It will make you realize the potential of OS, the potential of communities, and the potential of the individual. So, yes, by all means – read it.

[Klobetime · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of this book are interesting and engaging, and parts are mind-numbingly boring. The author is a professor at Berkeley and his scholarly background shows through strongly. The history of open source software is fascinating, and Weber does an excellent job of walking the reader through its genesis at AT&T Bell Labs to the widespread acceptance found today. His description of open source as "an odd mix of overblown hype and profound innovation" is spot-on, and his comparison of open source to religion was insightful—anyone can read the Holy Bible without a "license" from a Christian sect. The description of the constantly evolving social dynamics of open source is similarly compelling. Where the book drags interminably is during the discussions of the economic and political bases of the movement. Sadly, these last discussions are interspersed through all the interesting parts, making me almost afraid of turning each page for fear of encountering a discourse on tracking "the institutional isomorphism literature by encouraging hierarchical governments to remake their security organizations as networks to interface successfully with their networked adversaries." Well worth your time for the history and underpinnings of open source, but unless you are a political scientist or economist be prepared for a bit of a slog.

First Sentence:

This is a book about property and how it underpins the social organization of cooperation and production in a digital era.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve recently read an article about the best books on open source software and the book by Steven Weber was there (https://www.bgosoftware.com/blog/top-...) . After reading ‘’The Success of Open Source’’ I can state that the book really provides in-depth information about the impact of open source software on the IT sector.

[Suphatra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting -- a look at open source software from a historical, economic and philosophical perspective. Exhaustive and comprehensive -- impressive in that right. The only drawback about this book is that it reads like a graduate paper, whereas it could read like a narrative-driven social science book, which would keep the reader's interest better.

[anonymousreader]

to-read

[PF Albano · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up "The Success of Open Source" because the central question it was trying to answer was something that I've always wondered about. The question: Why does open source development work?. Upon reading the book I became aware of a second question that Weber wanted to tackle: How can the success of open source be replicated in other fields?

Weber is a political scientist from UC Berkeley, so the first chapter definitely has a strong flavor of that. As a reader, the chapter got a lukewarm response from me because of what was obviously an academic framework that Weber was setting up - it was strange scaffolding but the logic was solid and I was sold on the idea the an question in the IT field would benefit from being answered by a a disciplined approach from the political science field. But still, it was a tepid start.

Chapter 2 and the several chapters after it was a joy for me to read since it went over the history of open source. This included legends like Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Bill Joy, and more, as well as technologies such as Unix (a lot of Unix), DOS (to a certain extent), Apache, and Linux. It also showed how Linus Torvalds started the Linux phenomenon. Following the history is a detailed description of how open source developers collaborate and resolve conflicts.

Next came a discussion of open source licenses. I now know the main difference between GPL and BSD. I definitely like BSD better.

Then we get a capsule summary of the different business models that have been built around open source. The star performer here would be Red Hat.

By this time I'm two-thirds into the book. I think the first question about why open source development work is effective, has been answered. So Weber is approaching the second question. This is when I gave up on the book. Yes, I did not finish this book. The discussion became somewhat unapproachable for me because it became very abstract. I also think that Weber was showing parts of the solution without revealing his framework, so as a reader, I was both getting lost and getting bored. So I decided to drop the book.

On balance this book was worth the read for me because it addressed my curiosity about open source and enhanced my knowledge of open source history. I expect that the more academic, political science parts would be of interest to the proper reader - I was just not that reader.

Find books that you might love in my book review site

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Open Source software movement has begun to radically change computing,
the internet and the world. The Open Source community and their philosophy of volunteer programmers creating better software is begining to overshadow the profit driven business model subscribed to by Microsoft and other giants in the software industry. This new movement promises to revolutionize how the global marketplace does business. Steven Weber of Berkley University explains how this could happen and how the Open Source movement has the potential to be a powerful equalizer in the growing disparity of global wealth. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the history and impact of Open Source software and the community that drives it.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

As one commenter said, it's not a book you can read in one sitting. Offers a solid overview of the history of the open source software process and an engaging analysis of the challenge of open source to traditional ways of thinking about organizations. Covers some of the same ground as Shirky's Here Comes Everbody, but with more depth.

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

An indispensable introduction to the open source software movement. While it is undoubtedly an academic treatment, and thus somewhat less readable, it is still accessible enough to be of use to the general reader interested in the topic.

[Nicole Baratta]

This book is not the kind of title you can read from cover to cover in one sitting. It's a tough read, but a read that is well worth it. I love looking at open source from another point a view - that of a sociologist. http://blogs.liblime.com/open-sesame/...

[Krishna Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look at the open source movement and its various facets. The author dwells into the phenomenon of why people would contribute their time willingly to something that offers them no return. The book shows what kinds of software lend themselves to success in the open source environment.

[Jason Shao]

Paul Z. from UBC said this was good.

[Tom Smyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice history of open source and an insightful review of reasons for its success. i consult this one again and again.

[Alexia Gaudeul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clear and well-written introduction to the topic of open-source development and governance, with many insightful ideas and good illustrative examples.

[Sridhar Jammalamadaka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes you to the past in time machine, showing how open source evolved. Well written!

[Ruslan]

https://medium.freecodecamp.com/being...

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the future of the Internet. I hope so, at least--even if Bill and Melinda don't.

[Kio Stark]

totally useful if you need to understand this stuff (not just software, whole ethos)