The Changing Economics Of Open-Source Software
SiliconANGLE , Monday, January 1st, 2024
The world of open-source software is about to go through another tectonic change.
But unlike earlier changes brought about by corporate acquisitions, this time it's thanks to the growing series of tech layoffs. These could lead to many projects being crippled because their principals are now unemployed or will get new jobs in less open-favorable companies. The layoffs will certainly change the balance of power between large and small software vendors, and between free and commercial software versions, and the role played by OSS in enterprise software applications could change.
Most analysts agree that open source has become firmly planted into commercial software development, both from the perspective of the vendors who contribute their code back to the world as well as for those end-users who develop applications built around open-source projects.