# Coopetition of software firms in Open source software ecosystems

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.07049 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.07049/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 19 Nov 2017.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Why Companies "Democratise" Artificial Intelligence: The Case of Open Source Software Donations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17876/) (2024)
- [Characterising Open Source Co-opetition in Company-hosted Open Source Software Projects: The Cases of PyTorch, TensorFlow, and Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.18241/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Software firms participate in an ecosystem as a part of their innovation strategy to extend value creation beyond the firms boundary. Participation in an open and independent environment also implies the competition among firms with similar business models and targeted markets. Hence, firms need to consider potential opportunities and challenges upfront. This study explores how software firms interact with others in OSS ecosystems from a coopetition perspective. We performed a quantitative and qualitative analysis of three OSS projects. Finding shows that software firms emphasize the co-creation of common value and partly react to the potential competitiveness on OSS ecosystems. Six themes about coopetition were identified, including spanning gatekeepers, securing communication, open-core sourcing and filtering shared code. Our work contributes to software engineering research with a rich description of coopetition in OSS ecosystems. Moreover, we also come up with several implications for software firms in pursing a harmony participation in OSS ecosystems.