The essay analyzes the economic models that Raymond believes can sustain an open-source project in four steps:[3]
It first analyzes what the author sees as classical myths about the cost refund in software development and tries to present a game-theory based model of the supposed stability of open-source cooperation.
Secondly, it presents nine theoretical models that would work for sustainable open-source development: two non-profit, seven for-profit.
Thirdly it states a theory to decide when it is economically interesting for software to remain closed.
Finally, it examines some mechanisms that, according to Raymond, the market invented to fund for-profit open-source development (like patronage system and task markets).[4]
^Baldwin, Carliss Y; Kim Clark (Jul 2006). "The Architecture of Participation: Does Code Architecture Mitigate Free Riding in the Open Source Development Model?". Management Science. 52 (7): 1125.
doi:
10.1287/mnsc.1060.0546.
Carmichael, Patrick; Leslie Honour (January 2002). "Open Source as appropriate technology for global education". International Journal of Educational Development. 22 (1): 50.
doi:
10.1016/S0738-0593(00)00077-8.
^Bruns, Bryan (2001). "Open sourcing nanotechnology research and development: issues and opportunities". Nanotechnology. 12 (3): 198–210.
doi:
10.1088/0957-4484/12/3/303.
S2CID250853490.