Why do commercial companies contribute to open source software?

Many researchers have pointed out that the open source movement is an interesting phenomenon that is difficult to explain with conventional economic theories. However, while there is no shortage on research on individuals’ motivation for contributing to open source, few have investigated the commercial companies’ motivations for doing the same. A case study was conducted at three different companies from the IT service industry, to investigate three possible drivers: sale of complimentary services, innovation and opensourcing (outsourcing). We offer three conclusions.First, we identified three main drivers for contributing to open source, which are (a) selling complimentary services, (b) building greater innovative capability and (c) cost reduction through opensourcing to an external community. Second, while previous research has documented that the most important driver is selling complimentary services, we found that this picture is too simple. Our evidence points to a broader set of motivations, in the sense that all our cases exhibit combinations of the three drivers. Finally, our findings suggest that there might be a shift in how commercial companies view open source software. The companies interviewed have all expressed a moral obligation to contribute to open source.

► Selling complimentary services is an important way of appropriating monetary rewards from open source development.
► Companies interviewed have all expressed a moral obligation to contribute to open source.
► Innovation is a strong driver for open source software development.
► Limited evidence showing that commercial companies are contributing to open source as a way of making money.