The Hidden Economy of Open Source Software

Open Source Software (OSS) plays a crucial role in the tech industry, underpinning everything from small startups to large corporations, yet its true economic value has often been overlooked. A study by researchers at Harvard Business School has revealed that the "supply-side" value of OSS, which is the cost to recreate the most widely used OSS, is estimated at $4.15 billion, while the "demand-side" value, representing the hypothetical cost for companies to develop this software internally, is a staggering $8.8 trillion. This underscores the immense savings and efficiency gains OSS provides to the global economy. Despite this, OSS developers, particularly an elite group responsible for 96% of its demand-side value, often work voluntarily and face overwork and burnout, necessitating policy interventions to provide support and enhance security. Popular programming languages like Go, JavaScript, and Java generate significant OSS value, but they are not without vulnerabilities, highlighting the need for large vendors to enhance security infrastructure. Projects like Falco demonstrate the importance of vendor neutrality and community contributions in maintaining secure and sustainable OSS environments.