Free/open source software users were previously responsible for managing the challenges associated with their software themselves. Recently, a new generation of entrepreneurs seized this emerging market opportunity by positioning themselves as service providers for free/open source software users. Conceptualizing such providers as “institutional entrepreneurs,” we find that due to the nature of the free/open source software context, they exhibit a different set of legitimation actions compared with similar efforts in other contexts. Based on our empirical analysis of free/open source software service providers and drawing on prior theory, we identify two entrepreneurial actions aimed at gaining legitimacy specific to the free/open source software context, namely, product-based theorization actions and evangelization actions. We also demonstrate that institutional entrepreneurship is shaped by the nature of free/open source software products and the openness values at the core of the free/open source software movement. Our work hence underscores the importance of the context of institutional entrepreneurship.

中文翻译：

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创业行动和自由/开源软件服务的合法化

免费/开源软件用户以前负责管理与其软件相关的挑战。最近，新一代企业家通过将自己定位为免费/开源软件用户的服务提供商，抓住了这个新兴的市场机会。将此类供应商概念化为“机构企业家”，我们发现由于自由/开源软件环境的性质，与其他环境中的类似努力相比，他们表现出一组不同的合法化行为。基于我们对自由/开源软件服务提供商的实证分析并借鉴先验理论，我们确定了两种旨在获得特定于自由/开源软件环境的合法性的创业行动，即基于产品的理论化行动和福音化行动。我们还证明了机构创业是由自由/开源软件产品的性质和自由/开源软件运动核心的开放性价值观塑造的。因此，我们的工作强调了机构创业背景的重要性。