FINAL REPORT. RNTL project. “New Economic Models, New Software Industry Economy”. Managed by Nicolas JULLIEN, Mélanie CLÉMENT-FONTAINE, Jean-Michel DALLE. Realized thanks to the financial support from the French National Network for Software Technologies. Contents 1 The economic and legal context of a new software economy. 1 The economic and legal context of a new software economy. 1 1.1 Free software: a driving force. 2 1.1.1 The evolution of the IT production system. 3 1.1.2 Free software: a new advance in information technology? . 6 1.2 Producing and developing free software programs. 12 1.2.1 Developing standard software programs and valorizing in-house software programs. 12 1.2.2 Valorizing software programs which stem from public research. 13 1.2.3 Inventing free software program markets. 14 1.3 The future legal framework for the production of software programs. 20 I Studies on the evolution of computer industry: how do “free software companies” present themselves? 25 2 The manufacturers: the exemple of IBM. 27 2.1 A few reminders. 28 2.2 Strategy. 29 2.3 Products and services offered. 31 2.4 The community . 32 2.5 Economic model. 32 2.6 The necessary promotion. 34 2.7 A story about men and women. 34 2.8 IBM and the others. 34 3 The editors: ACT Europe. 37 3.1 A few reminders. 38 3.2 Strategy. 39 3.3 Products and services offered. 40 3.4 Economic model. 43 ii CONTENTS 3.5 A story about men and women. 45 3.6 As a conclusion. 45 4 The editors: MandrakeSoft. 47 4.1 MandrakeSoft. 48 4.1.1 Activity. 48 4.1.2 History. 49 4.1.3 Products. 49 4.1.4 The consulting offer. 50 4.1.5 The training offer. 51 4.1.6 The support offer. 51 4.1.7 Competitors. 51 4.1.8 Explications for a success. 52 4.2 Possition in the Community. 53 4.3 Strategy. 54 4.4 Economic model. 54 4.4.1 Stock market listing. 54 4.4.2 Mandrake in the beginning of 2002. 55 4.4.3 Creation of an Users’ club. 56 4.5 A story about men and women. 57 4.6 Interactions. 58 4.6.1 Free Software Foundation (FSF) Europe. 58 4.6.2 GNOME Foundation. 58 4.6.3 KDE League. 59 4.6.4 KDE. 59 4.6.5 Plex86. 59 4.6.6 Bastille Linux. 59 4.6.7 Prelude. 60 4.6.8 RpmLint. 60 4.6.9 Urpmi. 60 4.6.10 PHP-Nuke. 60 4.6.11 Development of Kernel Linux. 60 5 The Free Software Service Companies: the exemple of Makina Corpus. 63 5.1 Makina Corpus . 64 5.1.1 Activity . 64 5.1.2 Competitors . 67 5.2 The place of the Community . 67 CONTENTS iii 5.3 Promoting Free Software programs . 68 5.3.1 The necessary promotion . 68 5.3.2 Licenses . 69 5.4 Strategy . 70 5.5 Economic model . 70 5.6 A story of men and women . 71 5.6.1 Organization . 72 5.6.2 Who are they? . 74 5.6.3 Recruitment . 76 5.7 Interactions . 76 II Economical Analysis of software production strategies of valorisation. 79 6 Free Software Service Companies: the Emergence of an Alternative Production System within the Software Industry? 81 6.1 Managing the uncertainty of the market: which competitive edge for the SSLL? . 83 6.1.1 How do the SSLLs fit in their competitive environment? . 83 6.1.2 How do SSLLs fit in? Competitive advantages, market segments, types of services. 86 6.2 The implementation of the production system: the sslls’ Organisational Specificities. 90 6.2.1 Organizing the production of services - SSLLs: between the community and the market. 90 6.2.2 Manage the uncertainty of work: an arbitration between rules and freedoms. 93 7 Company strategies for the freeing of a software source code: opportunities and difficulties. 99 7.1 Open Cascade. 103 7.1.1 The historical background of Open Cascade . 103 7.1.2 Decision-making and necessary investments. 105 7.1.3 Preliminary results. 106 7.2 The freeing of E.D.F.’s Code Aster Source Code. 110 7.2.1 The history of Code Aster. 110 7.2.2 Preliminary results. 112 7.3 First lessons. 114 7.3.1 Constrained strategies. 114 7.3.2 Software computer scientists: a layer model. 115 7.3.3 The Search for a Standard. 116 7.3.4 Limited successes must not mask the difficulty of adapting oneself to unedited eco- nomic models. 116 7.3.5 More social than private benefits, at least in the short run. 119 7.4 Conclusion. 120 iv CONTENTS 8 Licences: strategic tools for software publishers? 123 8.1 Characteristics of the software industry: increasing output and standardization. 124 8.1.1 Characteristics of a network industry. 125 8.1.2 Strategies benefiting from feedback effect. 126 8.2 License strategies: a typology. 127 8.2.1 A few concepts. ..