3. Credits

Much of this article arises from thoughts after listening to Bob Young's views on commoditization of software and discussions with Jamal Hadi Salim on the risks to large corporations of committing to a single source software product from a potential competitor.

Both Richard Stallman (who I hope will forgive me for using the words `open source') and Eric Raymond have put forward aspects of these ideas. Eric tends to focus on the risk aspect and puts forward a model where open source is a matter of mutual self-interest. Richard puts forward a model where the focus is much more about co-operation. Which of the two is right (and indeed whether they are the same thing) is an interesting question, but not one relevant to this article.