The Open Source Business

Overview

This is the syllabus for the one-credit course on The Open Source Business taught by Andrew Watson in May 2003. An alternative title for the course would be Making Money From Free Software, which captures one of the apparent paradoxes of the phenomenon. I hope that these titles make it clear that this is a course about the business side of open source, rather than about the technical side. The official description of the course, which makes up the next paragraph, goes into a little more detail.

Open source software is also known as free software. The best-known example of open source is the Linux operating system. Although Linux is available at no charge, for-profit firms such as IBM and Red Hat have made considerable investments in it, with the expectation of reaping profits from the investments. The question of whether free software can be profitable is central to this one-credit course. Hence the course focuses on the managerial aspects of open source software, rather than on the technical aspects. Related to the managerial issue of profitability are issues such as intellectual property, human motivation—and freedom itself.

This syllabus overlaps with my page on open source, but that page isn't part of the syllabus. In particular, there are links, articles, and books that appear there but not here. They are not required reading for this course. It also overlaps with my information for students page, in that the content of that page applies to this course, as to all others I teach.

Most of the readings are online. Most are "free," in at least one sense of the word. Within the section of this syllabus for each of the two meeting dates, I list and link to the required readings. The date-specific sections are followed by a section in which I indicate some more general recommended reading.

Assignments and Grading

This course, like most of the one-credit courses in this MBA program, will be graded on a pass/fail basis. In grading, I will take into account two things, giving them equal weight. The first is participation in class discussions.

The second is a paper on some aspect of open source software, the specific topic to be discussed in class and approved by me. The paper is due by June 1, 2003. Sample topics include:

• Open source adoption in particular countries or other regions (e.g., China, Europe).
• The orientation toward open source of particular firms (e.g., Hewlett-Packard, Oracle).

Between the first and second meetings, you should post to Blackboard your thoughts on what you'd like to do for a paper.

The First Meeting: May 3

We will discuss the following in our first meeting. Please come to class well prepared to discuss the questions posed below - and other questions that may arise from the readings. Note that this does not require that you read everything at every site.

• The Linux Uprising and the related articles at BusinessWeek online. Most of this content appeared in print, as the cover story of the March 3, 2003 magazine. What do you consider to be the most important points made in the articles? The most surprising? Jot down a list of seven or so points.
• Red Hat and the Linux Revolution. You can purchase this case as a "sealed download" from Harvard Business Online. We will use this case to identify different perspectives on Open Source. Make a list of seven or so "players" likely to have different perspectives. Your list might include Bob Young, Alan Cox, Sun,... Come to class prepared to "play the role" of any and all of the players on your list.
• The Open Source Definition. How does it differ from the Free Software Definition? Other pages at the Open Source Initiative's site will help you answer this question.
• The Free Software Definition. How does it differ from the Open Source Definition? Other pages at the Free Software Foundation's site will help you answer this question.
• Amazon's page on Rebel Code, one of the books on open source software. What do you think of the way in which Amazon make some of the book "free" to you?
• Author Sam Williams' page on his book Free as in Freedom, a biography of Richard Stallman. What do you think of the ways in which he and his publisher make the book free to you?
• Why open source stifles innovation, a critical article from strategy+business, to provide a little balance to the readings for the first meeting.

The Second Meeting: May 17

Some of the readings for the second of our two meetings will come in the form of links, and some in the form of handouts to be distributed in the first meeting. Here are the links.

• You should read something by Eric Raymond. I recommend, in the context of this course, The Magic Cauldron, the essay in which he addresses the question of how to make money from open source software. You can find more of Raymond's essays at his writings page. If one of the other "big" open source essays (A Brief History of Hackerdom, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Homesteading the Noosphere, Revenge of the Hackers) at that page sounds more interesting than The Magic Cauldron, go ahead and read that other essay instead. Of course, you should come to class prepared to discuss whichever essay you read.
• Open Source as a Business Strategy. The most directly business-oriented part of this reading is in the middle, so if it starts off sounding more technical than most of the readings, hang in there.

The handouts will include the following.

• Excerpts from Free Software, Free Society. By the way, if you follow the link (which isn't required), you will see that Stallman is due to speak at Boston University at 2pm on Thursday May 15.

Recommended Reading

My favorite of the books on open source software is Rebel Code, to which I link above. You may find it helpful when writing your paper. Given that you chose to take this course, you will probably find it interesting.

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