The Open Source Business

Overview

This is the syllabus for the one-credit course on The Open Source Business taught by Andrew Watson in November/December 2004. An alternative title for the course would be Making Money From Free Software, which captures one of the apparent paradoxes we'll be discussing. The course number is CBA G237; the key number is 92194. I'm updating this page on November 10, 2004.

I hope that these titles make it clear that this is a course about the business side of open source software, rather than about the technical side. The course is also about the ethical aspects of free software. In covering these ethical aspects, we will see why some consider it vital that software be free, and that the term free software be used.

The Linux operating system is the most prominent example of open source software. 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 open source phenomenon is of interest from several perspectives, including the following.

• Competition in information technology. Open source represents some of the severest competition for Microsoft.
• Intellectual property. We will discuss copyleft, and other ways in which the free software movement confronts conventional notions of property rights over information goods.
• Human motivation. To contribute to open source software is to give away the code you write. Why, then, do people contribute to open source projects?

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 is also related to my information for students page, in that the information on that page applies to this course, as to all others I teach.

Readings

Most of the required readings are "free," in at least one sense of the word. Exceptions are the two Harvard cases, one on Red Hat, the other on Linux. You can buy them at the bookstore as a packet, or you can pay for "sealed downloads." To download, click here for Red Hat and here for IBM. I should note that some people have in the past had technical problems downloading the cases; that's why I'm asking the bookstore to stock them. I provide the other readings either by handing them out in class or in the form of links below.

There are no required books for this course (although as you can see from this syllabus, there are several required readings). However, I can recommend books on open source; indeed, I do so on my open book page.

Assignments and Grading

This course, like most of the one-credit courses in this MBA program, will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Please let me know if you require a letter grade, and then remind me multiple times. In grading, I will take into account two things, giving them equal weight. The first is participation in class discussions, including online discussions.

The second is a paper on some aspect of open source software, the specific topic to be discussed and approved. The paper is due by December 11, 2004. Sample topics include:

• The ongoing legal battles involving SCO and Linux.
• 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. Further online contributions are required.

The First Meeting: November 20

We will first meet on Saturday November 20, from 8am-noon. This is the list of readings for the first meeting. Please come to class well prepared to discuss the questions posed below - and other questions that may arise from the readings.

• 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.
• The Red Hat and the Linux Revolution case. 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.
• Amazon's page on The Business and Economics of Linux and Open Source , 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? (You can click to examine sample pages.)
• 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?

Between the Meetings

See the Blackboard site for this course for discussions to which you should contribute.

The Second Meeting: December 4

We will also meet on Saturday December 4, from 8am-noon. This is a provisional list of readings for the second of our two meetings. It may change between now and the meeting.

• The IBM and Linux case.
• 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.
• Excerpts from Free Software, Free Society, to be handed out at our first meeting.
• Any other readings handed out at our first meeting.

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