Floss firms, users and communities: a viable match?

Abstract

The participation of firms in Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities is growing and is increasingly debated amongst scholars. As [41] explained, FLOSS needs profit and we do not know successfull floss products without firms in their ecosystem, either being via the financial support of foundations (Eclipse, Linux) or the commercial offering of products or services based on specific FLOSS products (SQL, RedHat). Various points of view have been proposed, but most of the time, scholars studied either the implication of firms within a community or the integration of floss into their market strategy, but not both. In this article, we plead for a more structured and global analysis, based on industrial economics tools, and thus starting from the basic conditions of the computer market and of the buyers' competence in software development (the 'dominant user's skill). This conceptual framework helps to distinguish the different roles (understood as 'social roles') firms may play in the FLOSS ecosystem and, specifically the variation in their involvement.

How makers responded to the Personal Protective Equipment shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis focused on the Hauts-de-France region

“…Subsequent research has highlighted different specificities. First, while free and open-source software leads to known value propositions (such as assistance, assurance, and adaptation to use) ( Jullien & Viseur, 2021 ; Jullien & Zimmermann, 2011 ), it is also distinguished by more original business models, such as dual licensing or open core, which are likely to evolve as a result of changes in the technological environment or customers' needs ( Charleux & Mione, 2018 ; Jullien & Viseur, 2021 ; Riehle, 2012 ; Valimaki, 2003 ). The corporate strategy can lead to more or less violent conflicts with the community supporting the project going as far as the fork, i.e.…”

FLOSS in an industrial economics perspective

“…as shown by Jullien & Zimmermann (2011), when dominant user's skill is high, the variation of investment into FLOSS development and communities among firms, can be explained, in the spirit of Teece (1986), Teece et al (1997).…”

Comment concilier marchand et non-marchand : une taxonomie empirique des comportements stratégiques des SSLL

“…Plusieurs travaux ont ainsi tenté de comprendre cette posture qui semble, pour le moins, incompatible avec les aspirations des dirigeants, notamment, en termes de rentabilité. Des auteurs ont mis l'accent sur le rôle des entreprises dans les communautés de l'open source (Jullien et Zimmermann, 2011), d'autres ont cherché à comprendre les raisons d'une telle démarche (Bonaccorsi et al, 2006). (Meissonier et al, 2008).…”