It’s no secret that open-source technology -- once the province of radicals, hippies and granola eaters -- has gone mainstream. According to industry estimates, more than 180 young companies that give away their software raised roughly $3.2 billion in financing from 2011 to 2014. Despite the growing popularity of open-source software, though, many open-source companies are not financially healthy.
More Money For Better Open-Source Software
It’s actually open source software that's eating the world
At Lightspeed we’ve been investing aggressively in open source software (OSS) businesses for the past 10 years. Recently, we’ve seen a significant increase in entrepreneurs pitching open source startups, and we’ve also seen greater competition for these deals. We pulled together some numbers in an attempt to measure the acceleration in interest in and funding for OSS businesses in the last few years. The results were staggering even to us.
The $70B Open Source Software Paradox
It’s no news that over the last 10-15 years, particularly noticeable in the last 5 years, the enterprise software industry has gradually transformed from complex, expensive, closed-source (proprietary) software stacks to extensible/configurable,...
Open source and the software supply chain
Managing something as esoteric as resources for building software with a variety of contributions made by the open source community is more amorphic.
Open Source Endowment — World's First Endowment Fund for OSS
The Open Source Endowment provides truly sustainable funding for critical open source software through a community-driven endowment model.
The next wave in software is open adoption software | TechCrunch
There’s a big shift happening in how enterprises buy and deploy software. In the last few years, open technology -- software that is open to change and free to adopt -- has gone from the exception to the rule for most enterprises. We’ve seen the IT stack redrawn atop powerful open-source projects, with developers opting for an “open-first” approach to building solutions.
Open Source Is Eating The Software World
It's been said software is eating the world. This year’s Future of Open Source survey points to the fact that open source is eating the software world.
Some startups are going ‘fair source’ to avoid the pitfalls of open source licensing | TechCrunch
New alternative category to 'closed source' could help companies monetize software in the open -- without going all-in on open source.
The Open Source Revolution Is Over – the Revolutionaries Won
Microsoft's $7.5 billion GitHub acquisition and IBM's $34 billion purchase of Red Hat mark the final end of open source's outlaw period. Light Reading looks at how open source went mainstream, and what the revolution means for business.
It’s time to rethink Open Source
Why developers give away valuable work for free — and what can be done to take that money back.
In Thrall to Scarcity
As I’ve talked about in this space in the past, I’ve been coming to some conclusions about free software (open source, or whatever you want to call it): the economics of it, like anythi…
Embrace Open Source, For the Good of Nerdmanity | Fortune
More businesses are willing to use open source software for key projects.
Roadmap: Open Source
After years of investing in open source software, we’re releasing our thinking on what positions these companies as emerging technology giants.
Open source is a restaurant
[[Chad Whitacre]] makes a great analogy around when/how software gets paid for, vs food. Open Source is a restaurant. At a restaurant, you eat your meal fir...
Where Are All the Open Source Billionaires?
Hugh MacLeod asks, if open source is so great, where are all the open source billionaires? If Open Source software is free, then why bother spending money on Microsoft Partner stuff? I already know what Microsoft’s detractors will say: “There’s no reason whatsoever. $40 billion per year is
Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FOSS, or FLOSS)? Look at the Numbers!
This paper provides quantitative data that, in many cases, open source software / free software is equal to or superior to their proprietary competition. The paper examines market share, reliability, performance, scalability, scaleability, security, and total cost of ownership; it also comments on non-quantitative issues and unnecessary fears.