Juanan ​ ​

Researchers at Harvard Business School and University of Toronto used unique data to quantify the value of open source.

Takeways:

* Supply-side (cost to recreate) is ~$4.15B, but demand-side (value to firms) is $8.8T. Shows massive cost savings & productivity boost from OSS.

* If OSS didn't exist, firms would need to spend an estimated 3.5 times more on software than they currently do. OSS provides a massive, often invisible, productivity boost.

* A tiny fraction of OSS developers create the vast majority of value. Only 5% of developers are responsible for over 96% of the demand-side value

* Firms should not just "free ride" on OSS but actively contribute to the ecosystem, as this is far cheaper than recreating the software themselves.

Source:
https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/24-038_51f8444f-502c-4139-8bf2-56eb4b65c58a.pdf

Mar 18, 2025 at 10:55amWeb
Show threadErik AblesonMar 18, 2025
@juanan @vaurora I haven’t read the details on how they calculated the value side, but having watched how software projects are managed, I have to wonder if that 8.8T accounts for how bad companies are about writing and maintaining and the number of failed projects that will inevitably consume budgets
Show threadIan Molton 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Mar 18, 2025
@juanan apparently you need to go to Harvard business school in order to know the BLATENTLY FUCKING OBVIOUS.
Show threadJargogglesMar 18, 2025
@spyro @juanan
I'm sure it's in one of these two books, at the very least.
Show threadsoaprootMar 19, 2025
@jargoggles @spyro @juanan I'm trying to figure how to work in a #constructiveMathematics joke. Something about whether "this is taught at Harvard business school" is a decidable proposition.
Show threadDormouseMar 18, 2025
@spyro @juanan sadly, for many people, that's how it works.
Show threadPhosphenesMar 18, 2025

@juanan

If someone found a way to make many loaves and fishes from one loaf and one fish for $0 extra, the multiplier would be infinite.

Closed source locks up this genie in the name of artificial scarcity, and we all pay more.

Show threadstux⚡️Mar 18, 2025
@juanan agreed!
Show threadKevin Karhan Mar 18, 2025
@juanan also dupportibg #FLOSS with recurribg donations is cheaper than #licensing #CCSS that does the same job!
Show threadEhay2kMar 18, 2025

@juanan

I'm glad somebody finally quantified this. I think people who suspected for years but the value of #oss is much greater than most business people understood.

#OpensSource

Show threadjimmaharMar 18, 2025
@juanan @donwatkins see this?
Show threadtundaMar 18, 2025
@juanan Copyleft licenses can prevent Free Software from being stolen. Every developer should think carefully about whether he really wants to support BSD or MIT licenses. My recommendation is “GPL-v3 or any later”. Furthermore; you are not paying for the product in fact for the developer.
Copyleftlizenzen können verhindern das Freie Software gestohlen wird. Jeder Entwickler sollte sich gut überlegen ob er wirklich BSD, oder MIT Lizenzen unterstützen will. Meine Empfehlung "GPL-v3 or later".
Show threadLaurens ValkMar 18, 2025
@juanan ""Firms should not just "free ride" on OSS but actively contribute to the ecosystem, as this is far cheaper than recreating the software themselves."" Still far cheaper to assume someone else will contribute in your stead. 🤔
Show threadStefan F. KellerMar 18, 2025
@juanan This is a very remarkable paper! I translated it into shortened German version so that everyone in "my" community can take note of it.
Show threadStefan F. KellerMar 18, 2025
Forscher der Harvard Business School und der Universität von Toronto haben den Wert von Open Source Software (OSS) quantifiziert:
Die Studie zeigt enorme Kosteneinsparungen und Produktivitätssteigerungen durch OSS.
Gäbe es OSS nicht, müssten Unternehmen ca. 3.5 Mal mehr für Software ausgeben.
Unternehmen sollten sich nicht auf OSS "ausruhen", sondern aktiv zum Ökosystem beitragen, da dies weitaus günstiger ist, als die Software selbst neu zu erstellen. (Übersetzt und gekürzt durch mich).
Show threadderptronMar 18, 2025

@juanan RMS might be a scum bag, but he was right. If Open Source had not happened, had GNU itself not happened, it would be NOTHING like we have now. Everything would be locked up tight. There'd be no possibility of privacy--which it's getting to already.

Open source pushed everyone hard toward that openness. There was some that was forced by the courts, with IBM clones and such, but Open Source and the fact it took off pushed everything so now much is using it and there's freedom.

Show threadMausmaki 🇧🇷🇻🇪Mar 18, 2025
@juanan Very good news - but the healthcare sector laaaaags behind...
Show threadMichał KawalecMar 18, 2025
@juanan
The estimate of one to six billion USD to recreate all widely used OSS seems absurdly low, they must be off by orders of magnitude there.
Show threadatro_cityMar 19, 2025
Thank you @juanan . @EUCommission these are the cost savings the government could be making by using #opensource instead of #proprietary stuff like #microsoft #apple #google and #amazon. #PublicMoneyPublicCode
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Show threadLynxMar 19, 2025
@juanan
@afreytes This. This is why I've always advocated for open source software, and why it's important for anyone working at a firm that uses it to constantly push management to open source as much as they can, and contribute back to the community. Contributing back will benefit everyone, including the company doing it.
Show threadClaudio Zizza 🦜Mar 19, 2025
@juanan Yet, there will always be a dev who will take over once another one is gone. So no need to stop a free ride.
Show threadmmu_manMar 19, 2025
@juanan but did they account for all the nights we wasted having to reverse engineer all the proprietary crap we wanted to interoperate with?
Show threadEmber is so tired of people. ​Mar 23, 2025
@juanan aka it's so valuable because companies are leeching 8 trillion dollars of unpaid labor off of it
Show threadSteven D. Brewer 🏳️‍⚧️Mar 25, 2025
@juanan Adapted from xkcd "Dependency" https://xkcd.com/2347/
Dependency

xkcd
Show threadAral BalkanMar 27, 2025
@juanan @securingdev And just imagine if value wasn’t just measured in dollars for some people. I know, I know… crazy talk!