After reading the articles, I choose 2 examples of open source web servers: Apache and XINS. Apache is a well-known web server: 45% of all websites use Apache software. The biggest competitor, the paid Microsoft, has only 23%. XINS on the other hand is relatively new and small. The web server serves, with several other web services, only 12% of the market.
The main reasons why Apache has a bigger market share than Microsoft, is because Apache software is superior compared to paid server software. There are two reasons for this. First of all, open source systems are built upon a large amount of knowledge. Everybody is free to contribute and the contributors are diverse. At paid competitors, more contributors means more costs.
The second reason for the superiority is that contributors are motivated by much more than money. In the article Why hackers do what they do: Understanding motivation and effort in free/open source software projects, the writers claim that the overwhelming reason to contribute to open source projects is the users need for the software. They have a strong incentive to create a solution that matches their particular need. Other motivators are enjoyment-related, improving programming skills and a sense of obligation. At open web servers, it’s easier to motivate the contributors than at paid servers, because people aren’t monetary motivated.
Assignment: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53251299/Homework%20Assignment%20Roos%20Jager.docx
