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I could list out a bunch of examples (and deleted my first draft of this comment listing various examples: Wikipedia, operating systems, Web browsers, software languages, databases, and a host of desktop and mobile apps generally). But I think the more interesting perspective is to reverse the question: where are proprietary software specifically successful? Many years ago I'd noted that the concept of a shrinkwrap-based software company had very few successful exemplars. Microsoft and, perhaps Adobe, being the best-known cases. Through the mid-aughts, most other "software" firms had tremendous consulting arms: IBM, Oracle, Peoplesoft, SAP, Symantec, Informix, and the Big-N consulting companies notably. Since the mid-aughts, SAAS and social media companies have arisen, though that's still a segment where a very small number of companies come to claim a monopoly position, largely due to adtech dynamics (on both ad sales aggregation and surveillance data). Actual shrinkwrap software markets are increasingly marginal, fighting for table scraps, with the remaining large participants (Microsoft, Adobe) increasingly headed to subscription and/or ad-supported business models. |