Open source: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Anwendungsgebiete Open Source.svg|thumb|Area of application of open-source software<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.swissict.ch/medien/medienmitteilungen/medienmitteilungen/open-source-studie-schweiz-2015-publiziert-mehr-unabhaengigkeit-und-sicherheit-dank-open-source/|title=Open Source Studie Schweiz 2015 publiziert: Mehr Unabhängigkeit und Sicherheit dank Open Source|website=Der Verband für den Informatiker & für die Informatik|language=de-CH|access-date=2018-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313043750/http://www.swissict.ch/medien/medienmitteilungen/medienmitteilungen/open-source-studie-schweiz-2015-publiziert-mehr-unabhaengigkeit-und-sicherheit-dank-open-source/|archive-date=13 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

[[File:Einsatzgründe Open Source.svg|thumb|Survey on the reasons for using Open Source in 200 Swiss organizations<ref name=":0" />]]

Some economists agree that open-source is an [[information good]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The economics and management of intellectual property : towards intellectual capitalism|last=Granstrand|first=Ove|publisher=E. Elgar|year=1999|isbn=978-1-85898-967-9|___location=Cheltenham, UK}}</ref> or "knowledge good" with original work involving a significant amount of time, money, and effort. The cost of reproducing the work is low enough that additional users may be added at zero or near zero cost{{spaced ndash}}this is referred to as the [[marginal cost]] of a product. [[CopyrightCopyrignht]] creates a monopoly so that the price charged to consumers can be significantly higher than the marginal cost of production. This allows the author to recoup the cost of making the original work. Copyright thus creates access costs for consumers who value the work more than the marginal cost but less than the initial production cost. Access costs also pose problems for authors who wish to create a [[derivative work]]—such as a copy of a software program modified to fix a bug or add a feature, or a [[remix]] of a song—but are unable or unwilling to pay the copyright holder for the right to do so.

Being organized as effectively a "[[consumers' cooperative]]", open source eliminates some of the access costs of consumers and creators of derivative works by reducing the restrictions of copyright. Basic economic theory predicts that lower costs would lead to higher consumption and also more frequent creation of derivative works. Organizations such as [[Creative Commons]] host websites where individuals can file for alternative "licenses", or levels of restriction, for their works.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/ |title=About The Licenses |publisher=Creative Commons |access-date=2012-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106135603/http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses |archive-date=6 January 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>