Adoption of embedded open source software: The case of Linux in mobile devices.

摘要

This research examines the reasons for adoption, partnership initiation and product evolution for adoption of Linux as the embedded operating system in converged mobile devices. Data collected on 57 mobile devices and partnership agreements established between 40 mobile device manufacturers and 77 partners was used to answer four research questions that pertained to: (i) the reasons for Linux adoption (ii) the relationship between entry rate of new devices and the entry rate of new adopters (iii) changes on the characteristics of the devices that adopted Linux and product diversity across adoption stages and (iv) the effect of partnerships in the adoption of Linux. The answers to these research questions are relevant at least to the chief technical officer of mobile device manufacturers, software architects of mobile device development firms, and academic researchers.