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This chapter compares the five case studies on the adoption of open source software (OSS) in public organizations, examines whether the adoption of OSS differs from the adoption of software that is not open source, and analyzes the similarities and differences between the five cases. It also describes how each organization attempted to resolve concerns about OSS adoption and identifies the similarities in the secondary adoption process of the five organizations in this study. The chapter highlights the importance of innovation attributes, organizational attributes, and ownership cost in successful OSS adoption.

This chapter examines the adoption of open source software (OSS) applications at the Südtiroler Gemeindenverband (SGV) in the province of province of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy, which include the server-side system Linux server, OpenOffice desktop system, and Group E groupware. It explains that SGV adopted its first open source application in 1998 and ramped up its OSS activity in 2003 when it migrated to OpenOffice, and that the introduction of OSS did not require any new hardware or infrastructure upgrades, and regular hardware updates continued as usual. The chapter also describes the different aspects of the secondary adoption process including managerial intervention, subjective norms, and facilitating conditions.

This chapter examines the extensive adoption of open source software (OSS) in high schools and public offices in the Extremadura region of Spain. It discusses the establishment of the Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y Tecnología en Extremadura (FUNDECYT) to promote technology and innovation in the Extremadura region, and describes projects aimed to increase information technology (IT) culture. The chapter also provides a summary of the different aspects of OSS adoption in Extremadura.

This chapter examines the adoption of open source software (OSS) by the Italian Chamber of Deputies. It explains that the motivation for considering OSS was to provide the administration with a fine-grained control of the software it uses which would not be subject to commercial or technical constraints imposed by vendors. The OSS projects by the Chamber include OpenOffice, Zimbra and Alfresco. The chapter suggests that the OpenOffice project at the Chamber was seen as successful because of support and commitment from top management and widespread user acceptance, which reflected absorptive capacity.

This chapter provides an introduction to the basic terminology related to the adoption of open source software (OSS), which include proprietary software, proprietary data standards, and open data standards. It also provides a brief history of open source and its evolution, cites major references that can be consulted for additional information, and summarizes OSS products which will be considered in the book.