What is Brook’s Law

Free and open source software (F/OSS) is emerging as a promising alternative to proprietary software. The interest in F/OSS solutions is growing as firms realize that it could help reduce IT expenditures. Unfortunately, despite the heightened interest, F/OSS solutions remain misunderstood, and a number of myths regarding this approach still prevail. F/OSS has been described as simply software, or even software specific for the Linux operating system, with hardly any reliable support available. Some have considered it a silver bullet solution that will always create superior quality software at lower or no cost (Wheatley, 2004). The purpose of this article is to demystify these misconceptions surrounding F/OSS and provide an understanding of its basic concepts. Then, based on these concepts, we try to illustrate how companies can benefit from F/OSS. Our hope is that this article would assist interested observers to better understand F/OSS and help managers make more informed decisions regarding F/OSS solutions.