Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, wie kommerzielle Unternehmen die Innovationskraft von Open Source Projekten nutzen können.Als Beispiele werden Red Hat und Netscape behandelt.

Open source software is a collective term for different software licenses that give users access to the source code of the programs and thus allow them to develop the programs according to their needs. Because nobody can be excluded and because there is no rivalry in consumption, the open source...

Open source software production is a successful new production model in which a public good is voluntarily provided. We argue that by studying this new production model we gain valuable insightfor organization theory beyond software production.(...)

Open source software production is a succesful new innovation model in which a public good is voluntarily provided. We argue that by studying this new innovation model we gain valuable insigth for innovation theory beyond software production.