The behavioral economics of free software

“People who use and promote free software cite various reasons
for their choice, but do those reasons tell the whole story? If, as
a community, we want free software to continue to grow in
popularity, especially in the mainstream, we should understand
better the true reasons for choosing it—especially our
own.

“Some believe that it offers higher quality, that the
availability of source code results in a better product with higher
reliability. Although it’s difficult to do an apples-to-apples
comparison of software, there are certainly instances where free
software components have been judged superior to their proprietary
counterparts. I’m not aware of any comprehensive analysis of the
general case, though, and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence on
both sides of the debate.

“Others prefer it for humanitarian reasons, because it’s better
for society or brings us closer to the world we want to live in.
These are more difficult to analyze objectively, as they are
closely linked to the individual, their circumstances and their
belief system.”

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