The Economics of Free
Open Source and Free Knowledge
Wikipedia, Linux and open research are given freely, funded by donations, volunteers, companies and public money.
Free by design, not by accident.
Open source
Programmers share code that anyone can use and improve, such as Linux and Python.
Wikipedia
Written by volunteers and funded by donations.
Motivations
Reputation, learning, ideology and the benefits of shared tools.
Business links
Companies build products on open code and sell services.
A shared tool
A start-up uses free open-source software to build its product.
Assuming nobody profits from open resources
Many businesses depend on them.
Key takeaways
- Open source shares code.
- Wikipedia relies on volunteers.
- Motivations are varied.
- Firms build on open code.
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