The Impact of Free and Open Source Components on the Competition in Microcomputer Operating System Software Markets

This paper describes the impact of different open source copyright licensing arrangements to the competition in microcomputer operating system markets. We compare the historical evolution of the licensing policies of Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X and GNU/Linux operating systems. We argue that open source and free software licensing has been one of the most important changing factors in the microcomputer operating system markets in the recent years. We have seen both new entrants in the relatively closed markets and renewed business models by incumbents. However, there has been no single open source strategy but merely all market players have adopted open source into their operating system strategy in one form or other.