A critical approach to Open Source software

Stefan Gorling

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2003)

The purpose of this thesis was to discuss a number of assumptions regarding the benefits of Open Source software projects. By studying what has been written about Open Source combined with a number of own data collections, this thesis argues that: Brooks law is still valid in Open Source projects; many Open Source projects are failures; Open Source culture is a product of the 90s, not the 70s; Open Source is no guarantee for reduced lock-in effects; our most famous Open Source projects are not built up by nerds working for free, but professionals, employed by commercial companies to contribute to the projects; large Open Source projects are often hierarchical and bureaucratic; opening your source does not automatically lead to a large number of contributors; Open Source breeds diversity, not a single winner; Open Source projects often targets the community itself, rather than external actors; companies benefiting from Open Source are often based on traditional business models rather than revolutionary visions; and Open Source is not necessarily an efficient way to develop software.