"Then there's open source [software]. Steve Weber, a political economist at UC Berkeley, sees open source as an economic means of production that turns the free-rider problem to its advantage. All the people who use the resource but don't contribute to it just build up a larger user base. And if a very tiny percentage of them do anything at all -- like report a bug -- then those free riders suddenly become an asset." [Business Week: "Howard Rheingold's Latest Connection"]

"Linux is also the true heir of the Unix tradition in the sense that its development process is collaborative. Dr Pike says that the thing he misses most from the 1970s at Bell Labs was the terminal room. Because computers were rare at the time, people did not have them on their desks, but rather went to the room, one side of which was covered with whiteboards, and sat down at a random computer to work. The technical hub of the system became the social hub." [The Economist]

"The role of open source software scares many traditional software developers. There is an image of a need for volunteer labor, and developers not getting paid. This is far from the case. Developers and companies are still needed, and the best will be in high demand and well paid. Criteria of what is "good" may change -- the ability to write clear, robust, maintainable code with an eye to the future, or do clean modifications, or explain how to use old software in new contexts, will become even more important. Documentation, training, servicing, testing, and more will still be paid for. In fact, the knowledge that such work has long-term consequences and may be amortized over longer periods of time raises their value. What does go away is the effort spent on making upgrading and replacement a desirable thing, both in development time and marketing dollars." [Dan Bricklin: "Software That Lasts 200 Years"]