Blue Oak Council opens the software commons up to those who can’t find or afford specialized legal help by bringing experienced lawyer-technologists together to publish free, practical materials about software licenses.
The Council uses this page to list frequently recommended books, articles, and other resources for legal colleagues starting their open software journeys.
The Council doesn’t endorse every historical or legal assertion in these works. They belong to their authors, and to their times. But taken together, they paint a fuller picture of free and open source software as movements and practices.
Culture and Theory
- Yochai Benckler’s The Wealth of Networks or “Coase’s Penguin”
- Eric Raymond’s The Cathedral and the Bazaar
- Richard Stallman’s Free Software, Free Society
- Robert Young and Wendy Rohm’s Under the Radar
- Chris DiBona and Sam Ockman (editors), Open Sources (anthology)
- Christopher Kelty’s Two Bits (particularly the introduction, Part I, and Part II)
Legal Overview
- Andrew St. Laurent’s Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing
- Van Lindberg’s Intellectual Property and Open Source
- Heather Meeker’s Open (Source) for Business
- Lawrence Rosen’s Open Source Licensing
Development Practice
- Amy Brown and Greg Wilson’s The Architecture of Open Source Applications
- Karl Fogel’s Producing Open Source Software
Organizational Management
- Jim Whitehurst’s The Open Organization