Incorporation of the Linux Free Software Commons Into Red Hat's Capital Accumulation
* From the Commons to Capital: Red Hat, Inc. and the Incorporation of Free Software. By . In: Incorporating the Digital Commons: Corporate Involvement in Free and Open Source Software. 2020
"Red Hat transformed the commons of free software production into a capitalist enterprise by transforming FLOSS products into commodities that could be customised, sold, and serviced for its customers."
Abstract
"The previous chapter focused on Microsoft’s long and complicated history with free and open source software and the attendant cultural practices of open collaboration associated with FLOSS communities.24 Microsoft underwent a transformation in its stance toward open source software. What was originally an antagonistic stance eventually transformed into an embrace of open source processes and products. In part, this was driven by the growing acceptance of free and open source software as an effective, efficient model of industrial software production, but it was also driven by the emergence of commercially viable business models that were built around FLOSS communities. Perhaps the most significant of these emergent companies was Red Hat, Inc., which became the largest and only publicly traded company whose business model was built entirely around free software. This chapter focuses specifically on how Red Hat built its business and how it negotiated its relationship with the community of free software developers upon which its business model depends. In effect, Red Hat transformed the commons of free software production into a capitalist enterprise by transforming FLOSS products into commodities that could be customised, sold, and serviced for its customers. I understand commodification simply as the transformation of use values into exchange values, which stems from Marx’s analysis of the commodity form. However, some scholars like Meretz (2014) argue that free software is not a commodity and cannot be since this is prohibited by the GNU General Public License (GPL). Meretz’s point is that the GPL promotes direct reciprocity between people because the licence stipulates that anyone using GPL-protected works must make their subsequent work available under the same licence. On this point, I agree with Meretz."