“Big software makers such as IBM (IBM), Oracle (ORCL)
and Sun Microsystems (JAVA) have harnessed and transformed
open-source developer communities for their own commercial ends,
says Bruce Guptill, an analyst and consultant at Saugatuck
Technologies. He says two-thirds of today’s open-source development
projects are being done by commercial vendors.“In some cases, chunks of open-source code are incorporated into
commercial products. More often, commercial vendors tap thousands
of volunteers to test their software and fix any bugs.“Software vendors are basically co-opting the benefits of the
open-source community model to meet their own needs, and the needs
of their customers,” Guptill said. “It’s a smart move on their
part.”
Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.
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