This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Python Buzz by Ng Pheng Siong. Original Post: The Open Source Monopoly Feed Title: (render-blog Ng Pheng Siong) Feed URL: http://sandbox.rulemaker.net/ngps/rdf10_xml Feed Description: Just another this here thing blog. Latest Python Buzz Posts Latest Python Buzz Posts by Ng Pheng Siong Latest Posts From (render-blog Ng Pheng Siong)

I just came across The Open Source Monopoly by Lajos Moczar. Near the beginning the author wrote,

Let's first consider the meaning of the term "open source". This term
is actually a service mark of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) [...]

Let's see what OSI has to say about that:

Unfortunately, the term "open source" itself is subject to misuse,
and because it's descriptive, it can't be protected as a trademark 
(which would have been our first choice). [...] OSI is registering a 
certification mark, OSI Certified, for this purpose.

Got off to the wrong start, I'll say. Where's the academic rigour? I'm finding the paper hard going. Oh, here's a thread on it on theserverside.com. Ah, and the author has just posted a followup, The Economics of Open Source.