Software distribution processes

This article provides some insight into the evolution of the "Volunteer" Open Source Movement into the "Commercial" Open Source Movement - a progression that the writer disagrees vehemently with. It gives some background to the changing times within the software industry at the moment. According to the writer, "open source is ending up less the revolution it was intended to be and more an opportunity for the industry at large to redefine old practices under new terms."

It also links to an article on the economics of Open Source software, which may be worth a look. In it, he outlines three business models used by open source companies - "Dual Licensing", "Cell Phone" and "Ecosystem".

There is a reference to Eric Raymond's paper on Open Source "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" and contains a number of useful references, if I wish to go down that way. There is also a reference to the management of versions within the open source paradigm.

Open source is an issue that is unavoidable when looking at how companies in the future will license and distribute software to customers. From my perspective, looking at how companies distribute and sell their software to customers, and the marketing, supply chain, organisational and technical impacts, it is still somewhat peripheral, but interesting nonetheless.