Observed Effects of Free Software on Software Development and Requirements Management

Abstract

[Context & motivation] Free software is often declared to be a positive movement that makes technology accessible to those who might not otherwise have access.

[Problem] While the positive effects, to one degree or another, have often been discussed there has been relatively little discussion of the possibly negative effects of the free software movements. In general, these approaches have led to ever-increasing concentration of economic power in a smaller number of entities, the reduction of margins to the point where there is little economic incentive to investment and a general casino-like approach to software development: build it, then build a customer base and then try to find a way to monetize the customer base rather than the product.

[Contribution] The resulting conditioning of the customer base has led to a significant reduction in the availability of venture capital for software products and a corresponding increase in the availability of venture capital for software as a means to make the customer the product through data analytic approaches. This short paper discusses these observed effects of free software on the software economy and possible effects on requirements engineering practice.