Floss (Frre/Libre Open Source Software) is a complex ecosystem. This work present a part of my PhD work about actors strategies and interactions.

1. FLOSS Ecosystem

2. Jonathan Le Lous
Head of innovation (CSO)
Alter Way
~
Board member
April
(First Free Software non-profit organisation in France)
~
PhD in Management (strategy)
Toulouse University

3. PhD work
● Research Management Center
● IT service providers & open source
● Qualitative approach
● Actor-Network theory
● 51 interviews
● End-work in second semester of 2012

4. Open source & Free Software
- Friends ? No !?... but close cousins -
Free software :
We work together with an
ethic approach. Licensing
protect this ethic.
Open Source :
Coopetition.
Licensing protect
against
opportunistic business
behavior

5. Business vs Ethic
Private vs Publics Goods
Bad IT service provider vs Friendly Editor
Shadow vs White
Not so easy !

6. Floss: complex ecosystem
- Many organizations forms -
Non-profit, business, CIO, administration, university,
school, free workers...
<=>
contradictory objectives and approach

7. Five actors system
IT service
providers
Users
Editor
Communities Software

8. Floss communities
Virtual practical communities
Two levels:
Ethic Yes we trust !
Yes we can ! Technical

9. Users
● User is not only a customer
● User is not necessarily a free software friend
● User can choose to be a customer only if
necessary
● Users are demanding (free of charge !)
Thus, free software users are...normal !

10. Software
Software is like a teenager : it's independent (and
capricious) !
Extrinsic Licensing
Notoriety
Diffusion
Ergonomics
Functionalities Intrinsic
Language
Contribution governance

11. IT Service providers
Floss are not business models,
they are software development models
● Floss require incomes to develop software
● Service is one of them but not the only one !
Ex: advertising, sponsoring, free contribution, paid contribution...
● Traditional actors of service are IT service providers

12. How do they contribute ?
● Service providers contribute poorly in software
development because they have three
categories of intervention :
● Selection
● Adaptation (basics and plug-in)
● Support to use

13. But...they consolidate the market
Communication
Marketing
Events
NGO sponsoring
Commercial
Customers interactions

14. Editor (company)
● Editor is not natural in Free software approach
● Editor appeared when it was necessary to
develop a customer/market/business vision
(CRM, ERP....)
● Editor is an IT service provider specialized in
software integration and support....
...But it is in charge of software roadmap and
development

15. Editor is a hard work !
ethics
free access Community Competition
demands ISP

16. Any question... ?
...Hum...Not at the same time, please....
jonathan.lelous@alterway.fr
Skype: jonathan.lelous
Twitter / identi.ca: JollFr
Blog : http://blog.itnservice.net/