A key theme set to gain relevancy in the near future is the recognition of open source as a key business accelerator. Currently, the open source software development model is typecast as just that, a software development model. However, to focus solely on its role as a productive force of software assets is to fall short of grasping the entire value proposition. Harnessing open source as a business accelerator requires that the concept of shared ownership be embraced. It isn't sufficient to simply download and use software or even to purchase service/support. Engaging in shared ownership entails becoming a progressive contributor to the health of an open source ecosystem as opposed to simply a passive user or inactive customer for an associated commercial entity.
So if the typical avenues of unassertive participation can't coexist with shared ownership...what does? I define shared ownership as consisting of participation within an open source ecosystem as both consumer and producer. Quite frankly, in order to make good on the sharing of ownership, you've got to give back. On the positive end, contributions can come in any number of shapes and sizes, yet consistency matters far more than type. Coming to a better definition of what shared ownership ca mean entails illustrating why it is beneficial in the first place as well as why open source communities have reason to embrace it.
The same intrinsic characteristics which have aided the emergence of open source up to this point also call for new methods of categorizing the productive relationships within its ecosystems. Along these lines, the concept of contribution needs to undergo an overhaul. Where instead of being associated with an implied act of charity it is aligned with establishing a sense of merit-driven ownership not of an enterprise, business or organization but the community itself. In other words, the act of giving back would cease to remain solely affiliated with donation and more with exchange for some form of possessor-ship...which would effectively translate into a larger stake in the state and output of an ecosystem.
While shared ownership might seem to conflict with the presence of and supposition that drives the private, commercial open source software company, it actually doesn't impose a dynamic alteration to the aforementioned business model. It does promote the idea that ownership can and should exhibit the open elasticity that marks the open source software development model. And since a community of measured stakeholders is one far more effective and organized than one of users and customers, being able to assign ownership and any related structural formats is useful towards getting the most out of an ecosystem as a business accelerator.
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