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2019 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Managing Commercial Conflicts of Interest in Open Source Foundations

Authors : Florian Weikert, Dirk Riehle, Ann Barcomb

Published in: Software Business

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

When companies opt to open source their software, they may choose to offer the project to an open source foundation. Donating the software to an open source foundation offers a number of advantages, such as access to the foundation’s existing tools and project management. However, in donating the software, the company relinquishes control of the software and grants other foundation members—including competitors—the same rights to the software. Using a multiple-case study research approach, this paper examines how foundations manage conflicts of interest in the open sourcing donation scenario. We find that foundations primarily use a set of well-defined mechanisms to prevent such conflicts from arising, and that the use of these mechanisms can depend on the foundation type.

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Title: Managing Commercial Conflicts of Interest in Open Source Foundations
Authors: Florian Weikert
Dirk Riehle
Ann Barcomb
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Software Business
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-33741-4

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-33742-1

Copyright Year: 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33742-1_11

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