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Users as Innovators - Why Open Source Works

Posted by timothy on from the pave-your-path-where-the-grass-is-bent dept.

eaglemoon writes "Many people still have difficulty understanding why open source software projects are successfull. The Boston Globe has an interview with Eric von Hippel, a Professor at MIT Sloan School of Management, on users as innovators. In his new book, von Hippel, discusses how open source projects draw on the creativity of ''lead users," who are often ahead of the curve on technology and marketplace trends. Von Hippel shows the trend already is more advanced than is generally known, and users often freely reveal their innovations for the common good. The social efficiency of a system in which individual innovations are developed by individual users is increased if users somehow diffuse what they have developed to others.....he also notes that the transition to user-centered innovation is hard for some companies to swallow.
The online version of the book is available under a Creative Commons license."

2 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. Open source worked for me! by Harish+Rallapali · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Open source works for me. I'm no linux fanboy (I have been spotted, on rare occasion, praising Microsoft's assorted wares) however I have to say, considering the price, it works perfect for my needs. In fact, I don't think I've had a "Windows-only" situation in the past six months.

    Although I could be the exception, not the rule. I'm not really big in to games, and I don't really participate in a large-scale network.

  2. Microsoft helping open source by klipsch_gmx · · Score: 0, Redundant

    (and we'll probably have to keep saying it for another three years)

    The innovators have spoken, and they like what they saw.

    Now the volume will pick up, as more people take notice, and the ease-of-learning continues to grow in leaps and bounds...as businesses start deploying Linux on the workstation for cost competitive advantage and security competitive advantage, there will be more demand of open-source integration -- and more open-source programming jobs.

    Then come the hordes that are the mainstream users and late adopters. Oh how I hope the Linux community is actually ready for this.