The Business of Free Software
,----[ Quote ]
| In this paper, we examine the motivations of large information
| technology ("IT") vendors, to invest in open source software
| ("OSS"). What drives companies with large, proprietary software
| portfolios to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in OSS? We
| approach this question by grouping a sample of OSS projects into
| clusters and examining vendors' motivations for each cluster. We
| find one cluster has received almost no investment. Contributions
| to projects in this cluster are confined to the voluntary effort
| of the vendors' employees, and vendors are likely altruistically
| motivated. By contrast, the other cluster has received over 99%
| of vendor investments. Here, vendors are more likely economicallym
| otivated to invest in OSS projects that can serve as a
| complementary asset to vendors' core, proprietary businesses.
`----
http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-028.pdf
|
|
