How Does Open Source Work ( as an example of community produsage) different from commercial production?

Free and open source software (f/oss) is, as its name suggests, software that is available to users and allows them to modify, edit, re-distribute and add content as they need to depending on their individual needs/wants without financial reimbursement to the author/s.

This process falls directly under the banner of community produsage in that the community, or users of the software have control (either complete or to moderate) over the content and how it is distributed.

Feller, Fitzgerald, Hissam & Lakhani (2005) discuss the movement within Microsoft towards this open source software trend. Clearly, not all programs will become open source, but as is explained in by the authors, there is an understanding of the benefits.

"First, our customers want source access both for its technical benefits, and because transparency increases trust. Second, there is no uniform way for Microsoft to provide source access that covers all business and licensing needs across all product offerings. Third, customers will be more successful with the source code if solid tools and information are provided along with the technology."

Microsoft believes this shared source approach is a means for the company that directly uses the software to manipulate the system into one which is most useful to the organisation without weakening "its competitive differentiators or business model." In this sense, Microsoft is still being utilised as a product, but is offering far more to its users than ever before.

In a slightly different example, another type of open source as an example of community produsage is in its entirety, the Wikipedia environment. Users are able to add, edit and delete information, in essence changing the 'facts' and share this information with an infinite number of users who can also choose to add, edit and delete information where they see it as applicable. This is a service that does not cost the user financially, but simply allows the wide-spread sharing of knowledge and opinions without the cost incurred with publishing books or conducting face-to-face communications (such as interviews, presentations etc.).

Commercial production results in the completion of a 'product' which is presented to users in its finished form to disperse information (e.g. tangible books etc.) For users to be able to contribute to any changes in these products, a new version needs to be created. For example, if a user complained about the content of a book, the complaint was reviewed and proven correct and a new edition of the book was published to correct the error. In community produsage, users can continuously provide feedback or edit the content and method of distribution, two-way communication is utilised and it is the users who produce the product as an ever-changing system - thus the term, produsers. (Want to find more on produsage?)