This thesis is describing a business strategy of how to license a software product. The licenses discussed in this thesis are called open source licenses. The open source licenses have gained much attention lately by companies such as Microsoft, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. The reason for this is that some products considered being open source software are very widely used. These products include the most popular web server, the Apache web server, with more than 60% market share. 25% of the installed operating systems that are running Apache and other web servers are installed with Linux as operating system, which is also considered as open source software. These are only two examples of popular products that are considered as open source software products. These products are choices for many people and companies when choosing software to use, for example NASA.Open source licenses are called open in the way that the software is shipped not only in binary form, but also with the source code that can be modified and recompiled to suit the buyer’s need better.Apache web server and the Linux operating system are free for download, install, run and modify to suit your needs.In this thesis I will discuss whether these licenses can increase the chance of developing a successful product or not, in terms of market shares.
Author: Mats Nilsson
Source: Blekinge Institute of Technology
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