This outstanding book, referred to us by Mike Zackrison, is a true gem for anyone desiring to understand the open source phenomenon.

Steven Weber, a political scientist by background, develops a unique and compelling perspective that does not require technical background. His categorization of open source as a "political economy" is eye-opening and on target.

The Success of Open Source covers all the pieces, beginning with an understanding of basic issues in trying to understand how successful open source initiatives have come together. The achievement of motivation, coordination, and complexity are posed as questions, since it is not at all obvious how or why these have occurred. The history of open source is covered nicely, followed by detailed analysis and arguments to develop answers to the questions. In the end, the reader emerges with a viable set of probable answers that paint open source as much more than what many believe to be an accidental occurrance catalyzed by a one time event of the liberal licensing of Unix by AT&T Bell Labs.

We feel that this book is of great interest to the non-technical among us, especially higher education leaders. The book provides interesting insights into the development of collaborative networks to achieve better products, faster, through a mechanism of liberal distribution of intellectual property. Knowledge, dissemination of knowledge, and intellectual property, it seems, are at the core of the value that higher education delivers. And, as the "ownership of the commons" continues to be debated, it seems that the open source phenomenon provides some insights, especially in a new digital Internet world.