Open Source Strategies

Open source software has been catching the eye of the software development community for a while now and it is being seen to radically change the way software businesses would approach development. In this report we shall look back upon the history of open source movement, how it is seen to differ the proprietary software and how it can be used in a commercially viable manner in existing businesses. The report hopes to throw light on the salient features of open source software and the various licensing schemes that have evolved over the period of time. These changes have influenced the way the open source philosophy has been adopted by the various companies.

The open source model has significant advantages over the traditional model that would result in huge savings in terms of money and effort for the companies embracing open source model in any manner. Many people confuse public domain software with open source software. While public domain places no restrictions, open source software is governed by the license that it carries. The report additionally brings out lucidly how open source software differs from the proprietary though both place restrictions on the use of the source and distribution of software.

Theoreticians have built some models of business based on open source while some others have elaborated upon some of the strategies that the companies, adopting open source, might use. This report report explains some of these models emphasizing on how the company should choose the licenses it hopes to use and how it wants to combine the advantages of open source software with its existing strategy to create a winning combination.