This paper will perform analysis on the Open Source Software (here by referred as OSS) business model implementation in software industry. For in depth assessment, we will look into Red Hat Linux business implementation in detail. Started by looking into some OSS historical background, definition and deployments, including some Linux background, we shall evaluate the pro and cons of OSS economy with regards to Linux environment as well. Analysis will then go further into detail characteristics of the Linux development using relevant change models, environmental components, supporting elements in business model and implications of all those aspects to the Linux firm's performance. Some insights into how Red Hat implemented their business model, the changes and last but not least, some recommendation of adapted business model is given with marketing in perspective.
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Brief Background.
The OSS trend started around 1970s when UNIX Source code was distributed with nominal cost through usenet to various universities by AT&T and developed by Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson. The uncertainty of copyright issues when AT&T tried to claim UNIX Intellectual Property rights in1980s prompted many developers into looking for alternatives. In 1985, Richard Stallment founded Free Software Foundation (FSF) as an advocacy group for OSS, devoting its attention to "free" software initiatives called GNU projects, as opposed to closed source software. Then in 1991, Linus Torvalds from Helsinki University started the most popular OSS software today known as GNU/Linux, or simply Linux (Feller, J. & Fitzgerald, B., 2002) that has propped up the whole open source industry growth until today.
Licenses and Characteristic.
Around 1990s, during the emergence of Open Source Initiative, another open source advocate, has brought forward the different perception between free software and open source. In simple way, FSF is motivated towards ethical position while OSI complement on the pragmatic approach.
