# Open Source Research

Open Source Research is a commentary project exploring the economics, governance, and strategic dynamics of open source software. Covers topics like: why companies open-source their code, how open source projects sustain themselves financially, the tension between corporate sponsors and community maintainers, open source licensing strategy (MIT vs GPL vs AGPL vs BSL), how to evaluate open source project health, the free-rider problem in open source, maintainer burnout, open source business models (open core, SaaS, dual licensing), and the evolving relationship between open source and AI training data. Relevant to anyone asking: should I open-source my project, how do open source maintainers make money, why do companies contribute to open source, what makes an open source community sustainable, and how is AI changing open source.

> Site: https://open-source-research.kda.zone

## Pages

- [About Open Source Research](https://open-source-research.kda.zone/about)
- [The Linux Phenomenon](https://open-source-research.kda.zone/docs/linux-phenomenon)
- [Open Source Evaluation Workshop](https://open-source-research.kda.zone/docs/open-source-evaluation-workshop)
- [The Killed Business Model](https://open-source-research.kda.zone/docs/killed-business-model)
- [Docs](https://open-source-research.kda.zone/docs)

## Recent log

- 2026-04-09-linux-phenomenon [The Linux phenomenon — procurement bypass, irreversible dependency, and a sample size of one](https://open-source-research.kda.zone/log/2026-04-09-linux-phenomenon)
- 2026-04-07 [What open source actually means — and the business model it kills](https://open-source-research.kda.zone/log/2026-04-07)