For anyone who thought the open source movement was a passing fancy, this is the book to read. Written by two experts in innovation and patent policy, it presents important evidence on the scope and complexity of how firms and public authorities have embraced open source software. The reader will learn which nations and which types of firms use open source most heavily, and may be surprised at the extent to which open source code is blended with code and products that are kept proprietary. The authors provide a rich foundation for yet another wave of thinking on the subject.
Suzanne Scotchmer, University of California, Berkeley, author of Innovation and Incentives
How does software impact growth? Should the government favor open source over proprietary software, and how should companies choose between them? How will the comingling between open source and proprietary software evolve? If you are looking for answers to these questions and others related to the software industry, The Comingled Code, written by two giants of software economics and empirical industrial organization, will provide you with an original, rigorous, and yet eminently accessible analysis. Essential for all researchers, students, and practitioners interested in this crucial industry.
Jean Tirole, Toulouse School of Economics
The great challenge in all fields of technology is to design institutions and laws that both provide incentives for innovation and ensure that the fruits of that innovation are widely shared. Often, these goals seem incompatible. In the field of software, the advocates of 'open source' development claim not only to have resolved the tension but to have done so in a way that has myriad collateral economic and social benefits. Are they right? This book brings deep knowledge and careful analysis to bear on that crucial question. The answers it offers deserve close attention from programmers, business leaders, and policy makers everywhere.
William Fisher, Wilmer Hale Professor of Intellectual Property Law and director, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University
Unlike much of the writing on open source versus proprietary software, this book offers factual evidence, careful analysis, and evenhanded discussion, while avoiding unsupported opinions, hyperbole, and exaggeration. Everyone who is concerned with open source will want to read this book.
Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google
