Free Software’s Market-Oriented Aspects:The Example of Free Software Service Companies in France

Abstract

Considering the french case of Free Software Service Companies (FSSCs), this paper analyses Free software’s market-oriented aspects. We try to answer a fundamental question for free software: is the software industry have room for an alternative economic model based on the communities’ ethic? Analysing FSSCs’ competition with traditionnal IT Service Companies (ITSCs) and regarding the integration of free software in the ITSCs’ product offer, we show how the software sector’s strutures could explain both FSSCs and ITSCs recent changes.Free software, Organisational production, Software industry