Open Source Research Community (Online Papers) (original) (raw)
Title
Type
Compressed Abstract
Affiliation
Hope, Janet
2005 - 06
PhD Dissertation (894 KB)
Building on discussions with public and private sector industry participants, funding agencies, leaders of the free and open source software movement and scholars in a range of disciplines, this PhD thesis assesses the desirability and feasibility of extending open source principles to biotechnology research and development. It argues that "open source biotechnology" is both desirable and broadly feasible, and demonstrates that many of the essential elements of an embryonic open source movement are already present in this field.
Australian National University
MacCormack, Alan, John Rusnak & Carliss Baldwin
2005 - 06
full paper (630 KB)
This paper reports data from a study that seeks to characterize the differences in design structure between complex software products. In particular, we use Design Structure Matrices (DSMs) to map the dependencies between the elements of a design and define metrics that allow us to compare the structures of different designs. We first use these metrics to compare the architectures of two software products � the Linux operating system and the Mozilla web browser � that were developed via contrasting modes of organization: specifically, open source versus proprietary development. We then track the evolution of Mozilla, paying particular attention to a purposeful �re-design� effort that was undertaken with the intention of making the product more �modular.� We find significant differences in structure between Linux and the first version of Mozilla, suggesting that Linux had a more modular architecture. We also find that the redesign of Mozilla resulted in an architecture that was significantly more modular than that of its predecessor, and indeed, than that of Linux. Our results, while exploratory, are consistent with a view that different modes of organization are associated with designs that possess different structures. However, we also illustrate that purposeful managerial actions can have a large impact on structure. This latter result is important given recent moves to release proprietary software into the public domain. These moves are likely to fail unless the product possesses an architecture that facilitates participation. Our paper provides evidence that a tightly-coupled design can be adapted to meet this objective.
Harvard University
Frost, Jonathon
2005 - 05
Some Economic & Legal Aspects of Open Source Software
Bacheclors Thesis (234 K)
The emergence of open source software as a viable economic model has risen to the forefront in the debate on the future of the information technology industry. However, at first glance, the open source software development model is strikingly enigmatic and counterintuitive. To help better understand this phenomenon, this paper, through market data and economic theory, proceeds to ask and answer three related questions. First, what is the economic relationship between open source software development communities and proprietary software firms? Second, what are the resulting effects on market innovation and innovation incentives? And third, what legal mechanisms allow for the sustainability of open source software and should they be expanded or reduced? This paper concludes that open source activity appears to be generating four economic effects, whose net effect on innovation in the software market is ambiguous.
University of Washington
Boettiger, Sara & Dan L. Burk
2005 - 04
link to paper (SSRN)
The open source and free software movements have used self-perpetuating copyright licenses to maintain open access to publicly distributed software. This model of licensing has now migrated to the field of biotechnology, where patents rather than copyrights dominate proprietary rights. Consequently, a model for open source patenting or free biotechnology presents a constellation of legal issues not typically found in previous open source licensing. This paper discusses several of these issues, including the nature of the rights transferred, the activities that may trigger the terms of the license, and the legal prohibitions on certain forms of licensing.
UC Berkeley; University of Minnesota
Fleming, Lee & David Waguespack
2005 - 04
full paper (192 KB)
What types of human and social capital identify the emergence of leaders of open innovation communities? Consistent with the norms of an engineering culture, we find that future leaders must first make strong technical contributions. Beyond technical contributions, they must then integrate their voluntary communities in order to avoid the ever present danger of forking and balkanization. This is enabled by two correlated but distinct social positions: brokerage, and boundary spanning between technological modules. An inherent lack of trust associated with brokerage positions can be overcome through physical interaction or contributions within technological boundaries. Successful leaders are thus the product of strong technical contribution and a structural position that can bind the community together.
HBS, SUNY-Buffalo
Iannaci, Federico
2005 - 04
Coordination Processes in Open Source Software Development: The Linux Case Study
full paper (348 KB)
Although open source projects have been subject to extensive study, their coordination processes are still poorly understood. Drawing on organization theory, this paper sets out to remedy this imbalance by showing that large-scale open source projects exhibit three main coordination mechanisms, namely standardization, loose coupling and partisan mutual adjustment. Implications in terms of electronically-mediated communications and networked interdependencies are discussed in the final sections where a new light is cast on the concept of structuring as a by-product of localized adjustments.
London School of Economics
Lin, Yu wei
2005 - 04
Hybrid Innovation - How Does the Collaboration Between the FLOSS Community and Corporations Happen?
full paper (800 KB)
Unlike innovation based on a strong professional culture involving close collaboration between professionals in academia and/or corporations, the current Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development entails a global knowledge network, which consists of 1) a heterogeneous community of individuals and organisations who do not necessarily have professional backgrounds in computer science but competent skills to understand programming and working in a public domain; 2) corporations. This paper highlights the importance of the hybrid form of developing and implementing software, and also identifies several key factors shaping the collaboration between OSS firms and the community.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Tuomi, Ilkka
2005 - 04
Book Chapter (101 KB)
Open source has seen phenomenal growth in recent years. In many ways, it has been a great success story. Yet it is interesting to study the conditions that would enable the open-source movement to remain viable and thrive also in the future. This chapter explores the driving forces behind the open source model and its constraints, discussing both the factors likely to promote the continuous growth of the open-source movement and those that could lead to its downfall.
Meaning Processing Ltd
Vetter, Greg R
2005 - 04
"Infectious" Open Source Software: Spreading Incentives or Promoting Resistance?
full paper (734 KB)
Some free or open source software infects other software with its licensing terms. Free or open source software is a copyright based licensing system. It typically allows modification and distribution on conditions such as source code availability, royalty-free use and other requirements. Some licenses require distribution of modifications under the same terms. A license is infectious when it has a strong scope for the modifications provision. The scope arises from a broad conception of software derivative works. A strong infectious ambit would apply itself to modified software, and to software intermixed or coupled with non-open-source software. Popular open source software, including the GNU/Linux operating system, uses a license with this feature. This Article assesses the efficacy of broad infectious license terms to determine their incentive effects for open source and proprietary software. The analysis doubts beneficial effects. Rather, on balance, such terms may produce incentives detrimental to interoperability and coexistence between open and proprietary code. As a result, open source licensing should precisely define infectious terms in order to support open source development without countervailing effects and misaligned incentives.
University of Houston Law Center
von Hippel, Eric
2005 - 04
Democratizing Innovation (MIT Press, 2005)
link to Book
Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users--both individuals and firms--often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging user-centered innovation system. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all. The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products--most notably in the free and open-source software movement--but also in physical products. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive. Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and systematically seek out innovations developed by users. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D; subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.
MIT Sloan School of Management
Bollow, Norbert
2005 - 03
Webservice Protocol Design for Economic Liberty and Observability
full paper (214 KB)
One big potential benefit of the webservices paradigm is in reducing the costs of inter-firm business transactions. That should allow small and medium-sized enterprises to compete successfully with big firms. This paper considers specifically the economic needs of peer-to-peer business alliances, defined as multiparty business alliances which are not under the control of any single firm or any small group of alliance members, so that each participating firm has full economic liberty. This organisational form is appropriate for example for Free Software businesses. The main conclusions are that achieving economic observability of business transactions is of great importance, and that this is difficult to achieve with the Remote Procedure Calls paradigm of JINI or XML / HTTP / SOAP based webservices. The problem can be overcome by using the SXDF / QQP / QRPC suite of webservice protocols,
Bollow Software Economics Research
Imhorst, Christian
2005 - 03
Anarchy and Source Code - What does the Free Software Movement have to do with Anarchism?
full paper (100 KB)
What does the hacker ethic have to do with anarchism? Why does Richard Stallman, an outstanding personality of the free software movement, described himself as an anarchist? We should not imagine the anarchists of the Free Software Movement to be like the cartoon image: A scruffy looking lunatic, with a crazy glint in his eyes and bristling with weapons. Instead of chaos, Stallman postulates a new form of order for the intellectual property in the terms of the hacker ethic - the access to knowledge should be free, decentralized, anti-bureaucratic and anti-authoritarian.
Imhorst.com
Klang, Mathias
2005 - 03
Free software and open source: The freedom debate and its consequences (Published in First Monday)
link to paper
To most outsiders the ethics of software is not something usually considered. To most proficient computer users with a passing interest in this question the ethics of software is recognised as one of the fundamental questions in the digital rights area. To most of the latter, terms such as free software, open source, and their derivatives (FLOSS, FOSS, Software Freedom) are interchangeable. Choosing one over the other is a matter of taste rather than politics. However, to most insiders the question is not one of taste. There is a fundamental difference between the two areas even if they share a similar root. Free software is not the same as open source. The two groups differ in their fundamental philosophical approach to software and its importance to society as a whole. This paper examines the two groups� differing philosophies and explores how their actions have affected software development, access to fundamental software infrastructure, and the development of the concept of freedom.
University of Goteborg
Lin, Yuwei
2005 - 03
Gender issues in the FLOSS development
full paper (660 KB)
The FLOSS development is responding to the ICT development in various ways. This essay describes and analyses challenges (societal and organisational) and advantages (e.g. new models for mobile and collaborative work online), particularly regarding gender issues, encountered in the recent FLOSS development. The focus of the essay is not only on the claims made women in the existed FLOSS community about the tensions between male and female developers' interests and ways of doings, but also on the current obstacles against bringing more women, who are not technically competent, to participate in the FLOSS development. This paper concludes with suggestions on how to create rules and resources and the creation of a common FLOSS space for both genders.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam / University of York
St�rmer, Matthias
2005 - 03
Open Source Community Building
Lic Diploma Thesis (1MB)
Building an active and helpful community around an open source project is a complex task for its leaders. Therefore investigations in this work are intended to define the optimum starting position of an open source project and to identify recommendable promoting actions by project leaders to enlarge community size in a healthy way. For this paper eight interviews with committed representatives of successful open source projects have led to over 12 hours of conversation about community building. Analysing the statements of these experienced community members exposed helpful activities that led to the presently prospering communities of their projects. Summarizing the conclusions of this qualitative research a table with conditions for successful open source project initialisation and a subject-level promotion matrix of community building could be created. They include suggestions o�n how to start a new open source project and how to improve and increase the community of an already advanced open source project.
University of Bern
Rossi, Cristina and Andrea Bonaccorsi
2005 - 02
full paper (191 KB)
A growing body of economic literature is exploring the incentives of the agents involved in the Open Source movement. However, most empirical analyses focus on individual developers and neglect firms that do business with Open Source software (Open Source firms). This paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the incentives of firms that engage in Open Source activities. Data on firms� motivations were collected by a large-scale survey conducted on 146 Italian companies supplying Open Source (OS) solutions and show that intrinsic, community-based incentives do play a role. Nevertheless, these positive attitudes towards the values of the OS community, which are quite surprising by profit-oriented firms, are not in general put into practise. Discrepancy between attitudes and behaviours is a widely investigated phenomenon in social psychology literature. We explore its pattern in our sample, find that it does not concern all the respondents, and single out a group of firms adopting a more consistent behaviour. Our results are in line with the literature on individual motivations in organisations and Open Source business models .
Sant�Anna School, University of Pisa
Krishnamurthy, Sandeep
2005 - 01
The Launching of Mozilla Firefox - A Case Study in Community-Led Marketing
full paper (978 KB)
Mozilla Firefox is a Free/Libre/Open Source (FLOSS) browser supported by the Mozilla Foundation. This browser was recently released and has met with considerable success- it has been downloaded more than 20 million times and has already taken considerable market share from its prime competitor- Microsoft�s Internet Explorer. In this paper, I chronicle how the efforts of 63000 volunteers led to a community successfully competing with a powerful corporation. I identify four factors as the key facilitators to Firefox� success- complacent competition, product superiority, presence of marketing leader and volunteer support.
University of Washington
Shah, Sonali
2005 - 01
full paper (130 KB)
The "community-based" model has generated many of the innovations we use on a daily basis. The social structure created by this model has cultivated many entrepreneurial ventures and even seeded new industries and product categories. In this paper, I discuss three elements of this model and present four exemplars of the model that span fields and centuries. I conclude by reframing our view of the innovation process as driven by the activities of firms and research institutions and discussing implications for firms and policy.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Behringer, Stefan
2005 - 01
The Provision of a Public Good with a direct Provision Technology and Large Number of Agents
full paper (300 KB)
This paper provides a limit result for the provision of a public good in a mechanism design framework as the number of agents gets large. A canonical example for a public good that is produced with a direct provision technology is Open Source Software.
Universit�t Frankfurt
Lerner, Josh & Jean Tirole
2004 - 12
The Economics of Technology Sharing: Open Source and Beyond
full paper (209 KB)
This paper reviews our understanding of the growing open source movement. We highlight how many aspects of open source software appear initially puzzling to an economist. As we have acknowledge, our ability to answer confidently many of the issues raised here questions is likely to increase as the open source movement itself grows and evolves. At the same time, it is heartening to us how much of open source activities can be understood within existing economic frameworks, despite the presence of claims to the contrary. The labor and industrial organization literatures provide lenses through which the structure of open source projects, the role of contributors, and the movement's ongoing evolution can be viewed.
Harvard Business School, U of Toulouse
Berry, David M.
2004 - 12
Internet Research: Privacy, Ethics and Alienation � An Open Source Approach
full paper (106 KB)
This paper examines some of the ethical problems involved in undertaking Internet research and draws on historical accounts as well as contemporary studies to offer an analysis of the issues raised. It argues that privacy is a misleading and confusing concept to apply to the Internet, and that the concept of non-alienation is more resourceful in addressing the many ethical issues surrounding Internet research. Using this as a basis, the paper then investigates the Free/Libre and Open Source research model and argues for the principles of �open source ethics� in researching the online world, which includes a participatory and democratic research method.
University of Sussex
Dafermos, George
2004 - 12
The critical delusion of the condition of digitisation
full paper (260 KB)
This essay analyses how digital media prosthetics, institutionalisation (in particular the manifestations of copyright and patent law which lurk behind vested interests in controlling the transition to a vastly more powerful new world), and the imperatives of corporate planning have come into a conflict so fierce that shared lived experience, increasingly, is forced to undergo a rapid process of commodification. This struggle, which can no longer be defined through the lens of geography or class alone, in turn, points to a not too distant future in which commons-based peer production/consumption is exploited within the context of intense social taylorism and digital fordism with the ultimate goal to turn culture into a paid-for experience, and hence moving the terrain of struggle away from the surplus value of labour to the legitimacy of knowledge sharing and pervasive networking, and how the latter can be monetised and controlled in accordance with anarcho-capitalist agendas. Obviously, the question which we ought to pose to ourselves is how the revolutionary demands of hacking can be guided, assembled, and reproduced, so that this process of commodification is consciously resisted by technology developers and users alike, artists, and all those whose creativity and desire for socially conscious technological innovation and emergent social co-operation have been enhanced by the digital condition we're increasingly in the centre of.
Dalle, J.-M., P. A. David, Rishab A. Ghosh, & W. E. Steinmueller
2004 - 12
Advancing Economic Research on the Free and Open Source Software Mode of Production
full paper (358 KB)
Early contributions to the academic literature on free/libre and open source software (F/LOSS) movements have been directed primarily at identifying the motivations that account for the sustained and often intensive involvement of many people in this non-contractual and unremunerated productive activity. This issue has been particularly prominent in economists' contributions to the literature, and it reflects a view that widespread voluntary participation in the creation of economically valuable goods that is to be distributed without charge constitutes a significant behavioral anomaly. Undoubtedly, the motivations of F/LOSS developers deserve to be studied more intensively, but not because their behaviors are unique, or historically unprecedented. In this essay we argue that other aspects of the "open source" phenomenon are just as intriguing, if not more so, and possibly are also more consequential topics for economic analysis. We describe the re-focusing and re-direction of empirical and theoretical research in an integrated international project (based at Stanford University/SIEPR) that aims at better understanding a set of less widely discussed topics: the modes of organization, governance and performance of F/LOSS development -- viewed as a collective distributed mode of production.. We discuss of the significance of tackling those questions in order to assess the potentialities of the "open source way of working" as a paradigm for a broader class of knowledge and information-goods production, and conclude with proposals for the trajectory of future research along that line.
Stanford University/SIEPR
Crowston, Kevin & James Howison
2004 - 11
The social structure of Free and Open Source software development
full paper (500 KB)
Metaphors, such as the Cathedral and Bazaar, used to describe the organization of FLOSS projects typically place them in sharp contrast to proprietary development by emphasizing FLOSS�s distinctive social and communications structures. But what do we really know about the communication patterns of FLOSS projects? How generalizable are the projects that have been studied? Is there consistency across FLOSS projects? Questioning the assumption of distinctiveness is important because practitioner-advocates from within the FLOSS community rely on features of social structure to describe and account for some of the advantages of FLOSS production. To address this question, we examined 120 project teams from SourceForge, representing a wide range of FLOSS project types, for their communications centralization as revealed in the interactions in the bug tracking system. We found that FLOSS development teams vary widely in their communications centralization, from projects completely centered on one developer to projects that are highly decentralized and exhibit a distributed pattern of conversation between developers and active users.
Syracuse University
Dalle, Jean-Michel & Paul A. David
2004 - 11
SimCode: Agent-based Simulation Modelling of Open-Source Software Development Paper to be published in "The Economics of the Internet," N. Curien and E. Brousseau, eds., Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., forthcoming in 2005
full paper (127 KB)
We present an original modeling tool, which can be used to study the mechanisms by which free/libre and open source software developers' code-writing efforts are allocated within open source projects. It is first described analytically in a discrete choice framework, and then simulated using agent-based experiments. Contributions are added sequentially to either existing modules, or to create new modules out of existing ones: as a consequence, the global emerging architecture forms a hierarchical tree. Choices among modules reflect expectations of peer-regard, i.e. developers are more attracted a) to generic modules, b) to launching new ones, and c) to contributing their work to currently active development sites in the project. In this context, we are able - particularly by allowing for the attractiveness of "hot spots"-- to replicate the high degree of concentration (measured by Gini coefficients) in the distributions of modules sizes. The latter have been found by empirical studies to be a characteristic typical of the code of large projects, such as the Linux kernel. Introducing further a simple social utility function for evaluating the mophology of "software trees," it turns out that the hypothesized developers' incentive structure that generates high Gini coefficients is not particularly conducive to producing self-organized software code that yields high utility to end-users who want a large and diverse range of applications. Allowing for a simple governance mechanism by the introduction of maintenance rules reveals that "early release" rules can have a positive effect on the social utility rating of the resulting software trees.
University Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Stanford
Giuri, Paola, Matteo Ploner, Francesco Rullani & Salvatore Torrisi
2004 - 10
Skills and Openness of OSS Projects: implications for performance
full paper (255 KB)
This paper is about open source software projects' activity and the characteristics of different categories of contributors. Our empirical analysis draws on a very large sample of OSS projects registered at the Sourceforge website. For each project we have access to information about individual contributors such as skills, roles, and tasks assigned. Key variables at the project level are the number of project members or internal contributors (i.e., people who have subscribed to the project)), the number of external contributors (project openness), the overall skill combination of contributors, the number of different intended audiences (e.g., developers and end users), and various measures of activity (e.g., number of file releases, bugs and patches closed over time). We conduct a multinomial logit analysis to see whether skills? level, experience and variety of project members predict their role played in the project (e.g., developer or project manager). We then carry out an econometric analysis to estimate the contribution of skills and openness to projects' survival and activity.
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies
Coleman, Biella & Benjamin Mako Hill
2004 - 10
How Free Become Open and Everything Else Under the Sun
full paper (30 KB)
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has been adopted as a political tool by leftist activists. At the same time, it has been embraced by large corporations to extend profits and has been criticized as an integral force in late capitalism. It has been adopted by members of the growing Commons movement as a model for limiting the power of capitalism. This essay attempts to confront the variability of these relationships through a cursory analysis of each field and through an look at FOSS philosophy and practice. It argues that Free Software exists as a politically agnostic field of practice--built on and through a broadly defined philosophy. It analyzes the way that this philosophy is well suited for the spread of FOSS technologies and its translation into the terms of radically different, even oppositional, social and political movements.
Software in the Public Interest, U of Chicago
Ketly, Chris (Editor)
2004 - 10
full papers (500 KB)
Listing of papers: Christopher M. Kelty | Culture's Open Sources: Software, Copyright, and Cultural Critique --- Gabriella Coleman | The Political Agnosticism of Free and Open Source Software and the Inadvertent Politics of Contrast --- Alex Golub | Copyright and Taboo --- Anita Chan | Coding Free Software, Coding Free States: Free Software Legislation and the Politics of Code in Peru--- Christopher M. Kelty | Punt To Culture--- Rosemary J. Coombe & Andrew Herman | Rhetorical Virtues: Property, Speech, and the Commons on the World-Wide Web--- Glenn Otis Brown | Commentary
Various
Bitzer, Jurgen, Wolfram Schrettl & Philipp J.H. Schroder
2004 - 09
Intrinsic Motivation in Open Source Software Development
full paper (279 KB)
This papers sheds light on the puzzling evidence that even though open source software (OSS) is a public good, it is developed for free by highly qualified, young and motivated individuals, and evolves at a rapid pace. We show that once OSS development is understood as the private provision of a public good, these features emerge quite naturally. We adapt a dynamic private-provision-of-public-goods model to reflect key aspects of the OSS phenomenon. In particular, instead of relying on extrinsic motives for programmers (e.g. signaling) the present model is driven by intrinsic motives of OSS programmers, such as user-programmers, play value or homo ludens payoff, and gift culture benefits. Such intrinsic motives feature extensively in the wider OSS literature and contribute new insights to the economic analysis.
Free University Berlin, Aarhus School of Business
Henkel, Joachim
2004 - 09
full paper (107 KB)
Commercial firms increasingly contribute to the development of open source software (OSS). However, a conflict often arises between the requirements of the General Public License to make "derived work" available, and firms� interest to protect their intellectual property embodied in the code. If there are ways to mitigate or solve this conflict, the conditions under which OSS will be an appealing solution to firms become much more general. This paper is the first to provide a quantitative empirical study of this conflict and the ways firms deal with it. I present a study of embedded Linux, based on an online-survey that yielded 268 valid responses. It turns out that firms routinely use various means to protect their developments, while keeping the GPL. Still, they do reveal a considerable share of their code� on average, 49%. Heterogeneity between firms is analyzed using multivariate analysis. I show how the relative importance of various benefits and downsides of revealing determines a firm�s pattern of revealing. An analysis of reported reasons for revealing and of the type of code that is revealed provides further insights into these patterns. Putting the different dimensions of revealing behavior together, I find that consistent patterns of revealing can be identified for different types of firms.
University of Munich
Lin, Yuwei
2004 - 09
PhD Thesis (1.8 MB)
Through use of social worlds theory and qualitative research methods, this thesis explores hackers� practices and their relationships with the computing world and the wider society from a socio-technical perspective. Through engaging with a constellation of open source practices (OSPs), actors and actants communicate, negotiate, and shape each other�s identities, practices and understandings of the innovation structure and system in various aspects. In examining the diverse articulations and performances in which hacker culture and hacker identity are both reflected and constructed, the thesis tries to contextualise and deconstruct the ICT architecture we take for granted, as well as the innovations made possible by this architecture.
University of York, UK
O'Mahony, Siobhan & Fabrizio Ferraro
2004 - 09
Hacking Alone? The Effects of Online and Offline Participation on Open Source Community Leadership
full paper (83 KB)
Research on computer mediated communication has examined how a lack of social presence affects participation, communication and leadership in online groups, but until recently, has not examined offline relations or emergent social structures. The few studies examining these issues have not been integrated with research on open source communities. Online communities producing open source software face even greater problems of governance than affinity or interest based online communities, as leadership responsibilities extend beyond mailing list management to managing release dates, public relations, and collaborations with firms. With data from one open source community's online and offline networks over three consecutive years, we assess factors affecting voting participation and leadership. We find that the more developers one has met face to face, the more likely one was to vote in a leadership election. Controlling for contributions of code, developers are more likely to hold a top leadership position when they participate more in online discussions. However, online participation in technical discussions did not affect leadership as much as occupying a structurally advantaged position in the community's social network. We conclude with theoretical implications that consider the dynamics of online and offline networks for governing distributed online communities.
Harvard Business School, IESE Business School
Stewart, Katherine J & Sanjay Gosain
2004 - 09
The Impact of Ideology on Effectiveness in Open Source Software Development Teams
full paper (728 KB)
The emerging work on understanding open source software has argued for the importance of understanding what leads to effectiveness in OSS development teams and has pointed to the importance of ideology. This paper develops a framework of the OSS ideology (including specific norms, beliefs, and values) and a theoretical model to show how adherence to components of the ideology impact effectiveness in OSS teams. The model is based on the idea that ideology provides clan control, which is important in OSS development settings because OSS teams generally lack formal behavioral and outcome controls. The paper hypothesizes both direct effects of ideology on OSS team effectiveness and indirect effects via influences on affective trust, cognitive trust, and communication quality. Hypotheses are tested using survey and objective data on OSS projects. Four effectiveness measures are used to capture unique aspects of effectiveness in OSS including both the extent to which a team attracts input from the community and the team's success in accomplishing project outcomes. Results support the main thesis that OSS team members' adherence to the tenets of the OSS community ideology enhances OSS team effectiveness. The study uncovers several differences in the importance of OSS norms, beliefs, and values to different kinds of OSS team effectiveness and discusses implications for theory and practice.
University of Maryland, College Park
West, Joel & Siobh�n O'Mahony
2004 - 09
Contrasting Community Building in Sponsored and Community Founded Open Source Projects
full paper (212 KB)
Prior characterizations of open source projects have been based on the model of a community-founded project. More recently, a second model has emerged, where organizations spinout internally developed code to a public forum. Based on field work on open source projects, we compare the lifecycle differences between these two models. We identify problems unique to spinout projects, particularly in attracting and building an external community. We illustrate these issues with a feasibility analysis of a proposed open source project based on VistA, the primary healthcare information system of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This example illuminates the complexities of building a community after a code base has been developed and suggests that open source software can be used to transfer technology to the private sector.
San Jose State University, Harvard Business Schoo
Chiao, Benjamin Hak-Fung
2004 - 08
An Experimental Study of Open Innovation using MASTERMIND
full paper (297 KB)
This paper presents the first experimental results on open innovation, which is defined to be a method to solve problems with other people by revealing some or the complete history of algorithm already used. An important example is open source. Our data from human subjects show that non-modular payoff structure drives the convergence to a Nash equilibrium, in which commission price to helpers converge to zero but helpers will not stop solving problems for others. By non-modularity, we mean that the total production (or payoff) of a team is zero if either one of its members fails to produce at least at a certain level. In the experiment, subjects produce by solving a variant of a popular board game called MASTERMIND. Theoretically, free-riding leads to zero commission price. This removes a signaling function of price for the difficulty levels of work remaining. Empirically, however, it is not sufficient to cause the catastrophic outcome of zero payoff. This provides a basis for us to hypothesize that open innovation is a key explanation because it allows subjects to directly observe the history of work already done and potentially direct more resources to the more difficult tasks.
University of Michigan
Escher, Tobias
2004 - 08
Political Motives of Developers for Collaboration on GNU/Linux
MA Thesis (1.5 MB)
This paper examines to what degree developers of the collaboratively produced computer operating system GNU/Linux are politically motivated for their contributions. It first states that software is politically relevant. It then goes on to argue for the political significance of Free Software/Open Source Software (FS/OSS) and discusses the developers ambivalent attitude towards a politicisation of FS/OSS. Centrepiece is a survey carried out with 85 GNU/Linux developers that showed that most of them are conscious of the social relevance of FS/OSS and that their engagement is of a deliberately political nature.
University of Leicester & Freie Universit�t Berlin
Stenborg, Markku
2004 - 08
Waiting for F/OSS: Coordinating the Production of Free/Open Source Software
full paper (207 KB)
Trade-off between producing F/OSS module and free-riding is analyzed as game of war of attrition, in which modules developed and potential are heterogeneous. It may be optimal to produce "high-profile" module that creates reputation and signals programming ability. It may be optimal to volunteer strategically for "low-profile" module even if high-profile module is available to speed up development process and reduce costs of waiting. Even if waiting brings opportunity to free ride, there may be rush to develop high-profile module at the opportunity. Model provides explanation for how large-scale F/OSS projects can be coordinated without markets and prices nor hierarchies such as firms.
ETLA (The Research Institute of the Finnish Econom
Twidale, Michael B & David M. Nichols
2004 - 08
Usability Discussions in Open Source Development
full paper (268 KB)
The public nature of discussion in open source projects provides a valuable resource for understanding the mechanisms of open source software development. In this paper we explore how open source projects address issues of usability. We examine bug reports of several projects to characterise how developers address and resolve issues concerning user interfaces and interaction design. We discuss how bug reporting and discussion systems can be improved to better support bug reporters and open source developers.
University of Illinois, University of Waikato
Vetter, Greg R
2004 - 08
The Collaborative Integrity of Open-Source Software
full paper (634KB)
This Article analyzes legal protection for open-source software by comparing it to the venerable civil law tradition of moral rights. The comparison focuses on the moral right of integrity, with which one may object to mutilations of her work, even after having parted with the copyright and the object that embodies the work. The parallel apparatus in open-source licensing is conditional permission to use a copyrighted work. The conditions include that source code be available and that software use be royalty-free. These conditions facilitate open-source collaborative software development. At the heart of both systems is the right for creators to control the view that a work presents. In the open-source system, this is the Collaborative Integrity of open-source software. The history and legacy of moral rights help us better understand Collaborative Integrity in open-source software. The right of integrity in some international jurisdictions may apply to software, thus raising questions whether it hurts or helps open-source software. Building from these insights, this Article evaluates whether the Collaborative Integrity in open-source software deserves protection as a separate right, just as the right of integrity developed separately from pecuniary copyright in civil law jurisdictions.
University of Hourston Law Center
Gruber, Marc & Joachim Henkel
2004 - 07
New ventures based on open innovation - an empirical analysis of start-up firms in embedded Linux
full paper (237 KB)
An important and intriguing aspect of e-entrepreneurship is the formation of new ventures in the domain of open source software (OSS). Previous research on these ventures has primarily looked at the design of business models, yet has neglected other key questions relating to the management of these firms, despite clear indications that some existing insights on venture management cannot be applied to new ventures in OSS. The purpose of this paper is to explore how three key challenges of venture management - the liabilities of newness and smallness of start-ups and market entry barriers - affect new ventures in OSS. Based on empirical data from personal interviews and a large scale survey we find that many of the liabilities that are typically discussed in the entrepreneurship literature are much less of a challenge for new ventures in OSS. Our findings have interesting implications for the emerging theory on e-entrepreneurship, and for entrepreneurs considering to exploit business opportunities in OSS, and more generally business opportunities based on open innovations.
University of Munich
Michlmayr, Martin
2004 - 07
Managing Volunteer Activity in Free Software Projects
full paper (109 KB)
During the last few years, thousands of volunteers have created a large body of free software. Even though this accomplishment shows that the free software development model works, there are some drawbacks associated with this model. Due to the volunteer nature of most free software projects, it is impossible to fully rely on participants. Volunteers may become busy and neglect their duties. This may lead to a steady decrease of quality as work is not being carried out. The problem of inactive volunteers is intensified by the fact that most free software projects are distributed, which makes it hard to quickly identify volunteers who neglect their duties. This paper shows Debian's approach to inactive volunteers. Insights presented here can be applied to other free software projects in order to implement effective quality assurance strategies.
University of Melbourne
L�pez, Luis, Jes�s M. Gonz�lez-Barahona and Gregorio Robles
2004 - 06
Applying Social Network Analysis to the Information in CVS Repositories
full paper (86KB)
The huge quantities of data available in the CVS repositories of large, long-lived libre (free, open source) software projects, and the many interrelationships among those data offer opportunities for extracting large amounts of valuable information about their structure, evolution and internal processes. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of that information renders it almost unusable without applying methodologies which highlight the relevant information for a given aspect of the project. In this paper, we propose the use of a well known set of methodologies (social network analysis) for characterizing libre software projects, their evolution over time and their internal structure. In addition, we show how we have applied such methodologies to real cases, and extract some preliminary conclusions from that experience.
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
Bertelli, Federico
2004 - 06
Open source software development put in an impure public goods context
Bach. Thesis Abst (98 KB)
The open source software development appears to be a problem of pure public goods contribution, but looking more in depth emerge the classic question posed by Lerner and Tirole: "Why should thousands of top-notch programmers contribute freely to the provision of a public good?". So, the aim of this research is to elaborate a model able to cope with the low level of free riding.
University of Ferrara, Italy
Gonz�lez-Barahona, Jes�s M. , Luis L�pez and Gregorio Robles
2004 - 06
Community structure of modules in the Apache project
full paper (444 KB)
The relationships among modules in a software project of a certain size can give us much information about its internal organization and a way to control and monitor development activities and evolution of large libre software projects. In this paper, we show how information available in CVS repositories can be used to study the structure of the modules in a project when they are related by the people working in them, and how techniques taken from the social networks fields can be used to highlight the characteristics of that structure. As a case example, we also show some results of applying this methodology to the Apache project in several points in time. Among other facts, it is shown how the project evolves and is self-structuring, with developer communities of modules corresponding to semantically related families of modules.
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
Roble, Gregorio , Jes�s M. Gonz�lez-Barahona & Rishab A. Ghosh
2004 - 06
GlueTheos: Automating the Retrieval and Analysis of Data from
full paper (67 KB)
For efficient, large scale data mining of publicly available information about libre (free, open source) software projects, automating the retrieval and analysis processes is a must. A system implementing such automation must have into account the many kinds of repositories with interesting information (each with its own structure and access methods), and the many kinds of analysis which can be applied to the retrieved data. In addition, such a system should be capable of interfacing and reusing as much existing software for both retrieving and analyzing data as possible. As a proof of concept of how that system could be, we started sometime ago to implement the GlueTheos system, featuring a modular,flexible architecture which has been already used in several of our studies of libre software projects. In this paper we show its structure, how it can be used, and how it can be extended.
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
Robles, Gregorio & Jes�s M. Gonz�lez-Barahona
2004 - 06
Executable source code and non-executable source code
full paper (78 KB)
The concept of source code, understood as the source components used to obtain a binary, ready to execute version of a program, comprises currently more than source code written in a programming language. Specially when we move apart from systems-programming and enter the realm of end-user applications, we find source files with documentation, interface specifications, internationalization and localization modules, multimedia files, etc. All of them are source code in the sense that the developer works directly with them, and the application is built automatically using them as input. This paper discusses the relationship between 'classical' source code (usually written in a programming language) and these other files by analyzing a publicly-available software versioning repository. Aspects that have been studied include the nature of the software repository, the different mixtures of source code found in several software projects stored in it, the specialization of developers to the different tasks, etc.
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
Robles, Gregorio, Stefan Koch & Jes�s M. Gonz�lez-Barahona
2004 - 06
Remote analysis and measurement of libre software systems by means of the CVSAnalY tool
full paper (178 KB)
Libre (free, open source) software is one of the paradigmatic cases where heavy use of telematic tools and user-driven software development are key points. This paper proposes a methodology for measuring and analyzing remotely big libre software projects using publicly-available data from their version control repositories. By means of a tool called CVSAnalY that has been implemented following this methodology, measurements and analyses can be made in an automatic and non-intrusive way, providing real-time and historical data about the project and its contributors.
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
Crowston, Kevin, Hala Annabi, James Howison & Chengetai Masango
2004 - 05
Towards a Portfolio of FLOSS project Success Measures
full paper (313 KB)
Project success is one of the most widely used dependent variables in information systems research. However, conventional measures of project success are difficult to apply to Free/Libre Open Source Software projects. In this paper, we present an analysis of four measures of success applied to SourceForge projects: number of members of the extended development community, project activity, bug fixing time and number of downloads. We argue that these four measures provide different insights into the collaboration and control mechanisms of the projects.
Syracuse University
Elliott, Margret & Walter Scacchi
2004 - 05
Mobilization of Software Developers: The Free Software Movement
full paper (233 KB)
Free/open source software (F/OSS) development projects are growing at a rapid rate. Globally dispersed virtual communities with large groups of software developers contribute time and effort often without pay. One force behind this phenomenon is the Free Software Movement (FSM), a 20 year-old social movement whose purpose is to promote the use of free software instead of proprietary software. We show how the ideology of the FSM influences software development work practices in F/OSS communities and how an occupational community of F/OSS developers has emerged from this movement. We present results from an empirical study of a F/OSS development community, GNUenterprise (GNUe) whose purpose is to build an Enterprise Resource Planning system. We show how the beliefs in freedom and freedom of choice, and the values of cooperative work and community building are manifested in the GNUe norms of informal self-management, immediate acceptance of fellow contributors, and open disclosure.
University of Irvine
Henkel, Joachim
2004 - 05
The Jukebox Mode of Innovation: a Model of Commercial Open Source Development
full paper (282 KB)
In this paper, I explore the circumstances under which innovation processes without secrecy or intellectual property protection are viable, and where free revealing of innovations is a profit-maximizing strategy. Motivated by an empirical study of embedded Linux, I develop a duopoly model of quality competition. Firms require two complementary technologies as inputs, but differ with respect to the relative importance of these technologies. I find that a regime with compulsory revealing can lead to higher product qualities and higher profits than a proprietary regime. When the decision to reveal is endogenized, equilibria with voluntary revealing arise, again superior to the proprietary outcome.
University of Munich, CEPR
Henkel, Joachim & Mark Tins
2004 - 05
Munich/MIT Suvey: Development of Embedded Linux
full paper (97 KB)
The use of Linux in embedded devices has increased enormously in recent years. Most of the publicly available code for embedded Linux is developed and contributed by commercial firms, not by hobbyists. This raises the question if and how the development process differs from that of other OSS. This issue was addressed in a survey of embedded Linux developers yielding 268 valid responses. This paper is a collection of descriptive results from the survey.
University of Munich
Howison, James & Kevin Crowston
2004 - 05
The perils and pitfalls of mining SourceForge
full paper (60 KB)
SourceForge provides abundant accessible data from Open Source Software development projects, making it an attractive data source for software engineering research. However it is not without theoretical peril and practical pitfalls. In this paper, we outline practical lessons gained from our spidering, parsing and analysis of SourceForge data. SourceForge can be practically difficult: projects are defunct, data from earlier systems has been dumped in and crucial data is hosted outside SourceForge, dirtying the retrieved data. These practical issues play directly into analysis: decisions made in screening projects can reduce the range of variables, skewing data and biasing correlations. SourceForge is theoretically perilous: because it provides easily accessible data items for each project, tempting researchers to fit their theories to these limited data. Worse, few are plausible dependent variables. Studies are thus likely to test the same hypotheses even if they start from different theoretical bases. To avoid these problems, analyses of SourceForge projects should go beyond project level variables and carefully consider which variables are used for screening projects and which for testing hypotheses.
Syracuse University
Lin, Yuwei
2004 - 05
Epistemologically Multiple Actor-Centred System: or EMACS at Work!
full paper (461 KB)
This paper analyses the innovation process of EMACS (short for Editing MACroS) from a socio-technical perspective. I investigates how actors from different backgrounds contribute multiple ways of knowing, understanding and resolving problems that arise in the innovation process. The analysis of EMACS is especially useful since it spans the period that saw the origins of the free software movement and the subsequent development of a broader free/libre open source software (FLOSS) social world.
University of York, UK
Peng, Zheshi
2004 - 05
MS Thesis (570 KB)
The objective of this study is to examine the evolution of the market for Linux based products for the 1993-2003 period. Using data on 317 Linux suppliers available online, the differences in firms� size and in their first products were explored across the adoption stages of the Linux life cycle. Then two temporal patterns of the Linux-market were identified: changes in the entry rate of new Linux suppliers and changes in product diversity. Finally, the attributes of the partnerships formed by four major Linux distributors were examined. The study determined whether the number of partnerships formed by Linux distributors was related to the number of new entrants, whether the motives for partnerships formed by Linux distributors varied over adoption stages, and whether the type of partner selected by Linux distributors was a function of partnership motive. This study builds on the literature on open source software and traditional theories of technology adoption to make three important contributions. First, it develops a method to identify the stages of the life of a new technology. Secondly, it provides a way to measure the temporal patterns of the evolution of a new market. Finally, it validates the densitydependence model using data on open source.
Carleton University, Canada
Berry, David M.
2004 - 04
full paper (155 KB)
This paper uses discourse analysis to examine the free/libre and open source movements. It analyses how they fix elements within the order of discourse of computer code production. It attempts to uncover the key signifiers in their discourses and trace linkages between the sedimented discourses of wider society. Using discourse theory and critical discourse analysis, the theoretical foundations underpinning each of the movements are critically examined and the effect on the wider developer and Internet community is discussed. Additionally, this paper seeks to recommend discursive strategies that could be employed to avoid the threat of colonization by neoliberal discourse and the consequent challenge this has for the ideas of freedom, liberty and community within the developer communities� own discourses.
University of Sussex
Bosco, Gianluca
2004 - 04
Implicit theories of "good leadership" in the open-source community
MS Thesis (418 KB)
The goal of this paper is to uncover the implicit theories (a.k.a. personal believes) of open-source developers concerning the characteristics and behaviors of a "good project leader". Three main behavioral factors are discovered to describe such implicit theories: competence, task orientation and person consideration. The conclusions of this study have been drawn from an analysis conducted on data gathered through 138 respondents.
Technical University of Denmark
Ciffolilli, Andrea
2004 - 04
full paper (277 KB)
The economics of information goods suggest the need of institutional intervention to address the problem of revenue extraction from investments in resources characterized by high fixed costs of production and low marginal costs of reproduction and distribution. Solutions to the appropriation issue, such as copyright, are supposed to guarantee an incentive for innovative activities at the price of few vices marring their rationale. In the case of digital information resources, apart from conventional inefficiencies, copyright shows an extra vice since it might be used perversely as a tool to hijack and privatise collectively provided open source and open content knowledge assemblages. Whilst the impact of hijacking on open source software development may be uncertain or uneven, some risks are clear in the case of open content works. The paper presents some evidence of malicious effects of hijacking in the Internet search market by discussing the case of The Open Directory Project. Furthermore, it calls for a wider use of novel institutional remedies such as copyleft and Creative Commons licensing, built upon the paradigm of copyright customisation.
Universit� Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
Dahlander, Linus
2004 - 04
Appropriating the Commons: Firms in Open Source Software
full paper (230 KB)
Firms in open source software (OSS) are active in a field encompassing all the characteristics of a public good, given the non-excludability and non-rivalry nature of OSS. As the case of OSS demonstrates, the fact that many important inputs to the innovative process are public should not be taken to mean that innovators are prevented from capturing private returns. The objective of this paper is to explore how firms appropriate returns from innovations that are created outside the boundaries of firms and in the public domain using the case of OSS. To do so, the paper draws upon an explorative multiple case study of six small firms that attempt to appropriate returns from OSS, with rich empirical evidence from various data sources. The cases illustrate how firms try a variety of approaches to appropriate adequate returns and that selling services seem to be the dominant trend. Firm also balance the relative inefficiency of traditional means of intellectual property right such as patents by putting greater emphasis on first mover advantages and creating network externalities.
Chalmers University of Technology
Rossi, Maria Alessandra
2004 - 04
Decoding the "Free/Open Source (F/OSS) Puzzle" - a Survey ofTheretical and Empirical Contributions
full paper (308 KB)
F/OSS software has been described by many as a puzzle. In the past five years, it has stimulated the curiosity of scholars in a variety of fields, including economics, law, psychology, anthropology and computer science, so that the number of contributions on the subject has increased exponentially. The purpose of this paper is to provide a sufficiently comprehensive account of these contributions in order to draw some general conclusions on the state of our understanding of the phenomenon and identify directions for future research. The exercise suggests that what is puzzling about F/OSS is not so much the fact that people freely contribute to a good they make available to all, but rather the complexity of its institutional structure and its ability to organizationally evolve over time.
University of Sienna
Stewart, Daniel
2004 - 04
Status Inertia:The Speed Imperative in the Attainment of Community Status
full paper (586 KB)
This paper examines the role of tenure in establishing social status within an online community of free software developers. As tenure increases, an actor's status becomes increasingly taken-for-granted, thus making it difficult for actors to generate mobility outside of their current social strata. The results of empirical analyses suggest that the broader community plays a major role in deciding one's social position-a judgment that can be made fairly quickly and decisively. Therefore, members of the community who desire high status should work quickly to establish a positive reputation or else run the risk of being cast into an inert low status social position.
Washington State University
Stewart, Daniel
2004 - 04
Social Forces and Constraint in the Attainment of Community Status
full paper (865 KB)
A study of social forces at work within an online community of free software developers, this paper investigates the manner in which social forces exert pressure that initially shapes and defines an actor's status within the community, but eventually constrain that actor's movement within a status order. The results of empirical analyses at the dyad level show that, in the process of status attainment, community members tend to evaluate a focal actor's reputation according to publicly available social cues. Ironically, these same social cues eventually work to produce stability and constraint in an actor's status position by reducing heterogeneity in community status beliefs.
Washington University
Viegas, Fernanda, Martin Wattenberg & Kushal Dave
2004 - 04
Studying Cooperation and Conflict between Authors with history flow Visualizations
full paper (546 KB)
The Internet has fostered an unconventional and powerful style of collaboration: wiki web sites, where every visitor has the power to become an editor. In this paper we investigate the dynamics of Wikipedia, a prominent, thriving wiki. We make three contributions. First, we introduce a new exploratory data analysis tool, the history flow visualization, which is effective in revealing patterns within the wiki context and which we believe will be useful in other collaborative situations as well. Second, we discuss several collaboration patterns highlighted by this visualization tool and corroborate them with statistical analysis. Third, we discuss the implications of these patterns for the design and governance of online collaborative social spaces. We focus on the relevance of authorship, the value of community surveillance in ameliorating antisocial behavior, and how authors with competing perspectives negotiate their differences. content of the page.
MIT Media Lab, IBM Research
Antonacci, Francesca
2004 - 03
Free software development communities as a pedagogic model - Paper in Italian - Abstract in English
abstract (8 KB)
The pedagogic interest arising from the emergence of free software development communities is twofold. Firstly, in their production practices these communities set out formative processes as well as educational ones. These practices characterise these communities and are not accessory, to the point that without them the communities could not survive. Secondly, these communities are interesting as they make up a particularly rich epistemological model for the understanding of formative, educational and didactical themes. Having embraced the hacker culture, these communities promote and create an incentive to the free circulation of knowledge without protectionist barriers. However, freedom of knowledge alone is not enough, both in the educational and productive fields, unless it is introduced in an organisational model promoting the participation and engagement of the individuals. The communities of free software development are a particularly interesting organisational model because their structure, based on co-operation and solidarity and opposing centralisation, promote the participation of programmers and users all over the world. Thanks to this kind of organisation, which owes much to a model of delegating leadership, authoritative but not authoritarian, charismatic but not idealised these communities are putting together a very large number of work groups. These are geographically, methodologically and culturally non-homogeneous groups, which despite all predictions create highly competitive products of high quality.
Universit� Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy
Blanas, George
2004 - 03
SOS-ware [Strategic Open Software] Perspectives
full paper (38 KB)
Certain types of software play a strategic role in the development of the various aspects of organizational life. One of these roles is knowledge development that can act as a facilitator of economic diamonds. We review the characteristics of strategic software and we try to answer the question whether there can exist open software development that would be able to incorporate these characteristics. Based on this review, and on certain case studies, we present a theory, on how open software might be able to close the gaps in knowledge creation and usage - or the reverse, ie. to become a vehicle for an acceleration of this hysteresis.
Technological Education Institute of Larissa
Blanas, George
2004 - 03
SOS-ware DEVILS[Strategic Open Software DEVelopment ILlnesseS]
full paper (52 KB)
Certain categories of software play a strategic role in contemporary public and private organizations. While software use is accelerated and diffused to more and more people and organisations, software development follows a reverse trend where fewer players form oligopolies, with some of them having almost reached a state of monopoly in certain areas. The evil consequences of such an evolution can be numerous, some of them relate to economic and security dependence and some others to phenomena of knowledge dependence and hysteresis. Within the current paper, we formulate a general framework that categorises the types of illnesses in open strategic software development from a number of viewpoints and the types of damages that could be inflicted to organizations and states as a result of false expectations if these illnesses persist. Finally, we identify the areas where research is considered to be urgently needed.
Technological Education Institute of Larissa
Gehring, Robert A & Bernd Lutterbeck
2004 - 03
Open Source Jarbuch 2004 (in German)
link to book
The "Open Source Jahrbuch 2004" (open source yearbook 2004) is the first publication in German to cover the topic with an interdisciplinary approach. In contains contributions from practitioners as well as from scientists and aims to supply the reader with a comprehensive picture of how rich the open source phenomenon is. Open source means much more than only software. The subtitle of the book, "Zwischen Softwareentwicklung und Gesellschaftsmodell", i.e. "Between Software Development and Social Model", circumscribes the reach of this new way of dealing with information artefacts. The book is directed towards decision-makers from both politics and business as well as to scientists doing reasearch in this field. It delivers first-hand insights as a basis for understanding the potentials and constraints of open source.
Technical University of Berlin
Lee, Jen-Fang & Tzu-Ying Chan
2004 - 03
Theory Development for Organizational Platform of User Collaboration Innovation Community
full paper (138 KB)
This study proposes the concept of the �User Collaboration Innovation Community�, tries to understand this new phenomenon by conducting projects where the opening of source software is the subject of this analysis, borrows the observation variables and propositions adopted by Mintzberg on structures of the innovative organization, and summarizes the opinions of scholars of organizational economics, the relationship between property rights and organization performance. This study further infers a series of conceptual framework and propositions on the relationships among �organization structure, property right, and organization innovation� for �the organizational platform of the user collaboration innovation community�. We expect that the construction of this concept framework will function as a concrete description and presentation of the innovation model of the User Collaboration Innovation Community and will serve as a clear path to be followed for continuous research in the future.
National Cheng Chi University, Taiwan
Chan, Tzu-Ying & Jen-Fang Lee
2004 - 02
A Comparative Study of Online User Communities Involvement In Product Innovation and Development
full paper (150 KB)
The literature lacks a conceptual understanding on how different types of online user communities can influence the product innovation and development. Therefore, this research attempts to understand this phenomenon by re-classifying the current online user communities from the perspective of product innovation and development and has resulted in five different models of user communities. We compare and discuss of the five models. Lastly, we will further discuss the deficiencies of the User Collaboration Innovation Communities, theoretically and practically, to suggest the feasibility of the research direction in the future.
National Cheng Chi University, Taiwan
Hemetsberger, Andrea
2004 - 02
full paper (223 KB)
This article advances our understanding of the motivational sources for consumer involvement in online joint innovation. The 'free' or 'open-source' software movement is the largest socio-technical network and most visible empirical evidence of this new phenomenon. The paper promotes a behavioral view of involvement and offers a conceptualization and empirical evidence of the relationship between cognitive-affective, socially-based and behavioral involvement in online joint production. An Internet survey with 1486 contributors to open-source software revealed that the extent of behavioral involvement is strongly related to the structure and strength of relationships between different motivations. The relationship between concern for self and concern for others especially distinguishes the level of contribution to online projects.
University of Innsbruck
Hemetsberger, Andrea
2004 - 02
full paper (233 KB)
Virtual communities of consumers increasingly engage in voluntary collaborative production of digital goods and services which became highly successful in recent years. This paper offers a theoretical conceptualization and empirical evidence of the key elements and processes of exchange in those communities. Within a culture of gift-giving and generalized social exchange, knowledge as the main resource of the community is multiplied by giving it away freely to others and thus, fosters contribution behavior. Friendship, peer reputation and external feed-back provided by a global user community represent highly motivating social rewards which, combined with individual gain of knowledge, constitute a self-sustaining system of exchange.
University of Innsbruck
Hemetsberger, Andrea
2004 - 02
full paper (179 KB)
This paper offers a new approach for understanding online collaboration and collective action of 'prosumers'. It is proposed here that theories of collective action and social representations theory, in particular, provide a theoretical framework for studying the structural and social context of online collaboration of consumers, the social actors involved, and how public discourse contributes to shared meaning creation and dissemination in online communities. Processes of naming, classifying, personalizing and institutionalization give their actions ontological reality and contribute to the sustainability of the common effort. An overview and definition of these processes and relevant influencing factors is given and possible indicators of these concepts in open-source communities are highlighted.
University of Innsbruck
Hemetsberger, Andrea & Christian Reinhardt
2004 - 02
Sharing and Creating Knowledge in Open-Source Communities The case of KDE
abstract (112 KB)
Our research suggests that knowledge is shared and created in online communities of practice through the establishment of processes and 'technologies' that enable virtual re-experience for the learners at various levels. It demonstrates that online communities of practice overcome the problem of tacit knowledge transformation through the usage of technological tools, task-related features, analogies and usage scenarios. Three questions guided our research. The first one concentrates on how community members organize content with regard to their daily routines that potentially transforms into knowledge for other members. Secondly, as open-source communities depend on attracting and socializing new members, we inquired how new members are enabled to accumulate the knowledge necessary for becoming a valued member. Thirdly, we asked how members co-create and conceptualize new ideas - create new knowledge - in absence of physical proximity. Re-experience is enabled by modular tasks and transactive group memory, rigid guidance of new members, openness and legitimate peripheral participation, asynchronous communication, and virtual experimentation. Empirical evidence is based on an ethnographic investigation of the KDE project community.
University of Innsbruck, Luxmate Controls
Scherler, Thorsten
2004 - 02
Open Source Software within organization - Critical factors for consulting
full paper (178 KB)
The consultation of enterprises and organizations regarding the correct implementation of modern information technology is an important segment on the modern consulting market. The main focus of this work is to conduct the consultation in consideration of the topic �Introduction of Open Source e-Business Technologies�. Due to limited budget funds more and more enterprises are designing their value chain more cost-effective by using web based systems. Mostly all parts of the value chain can be supported by e-business technologies. To further reduce the costs this e-business technologies should be Open Source.
Alc�ntara sistemas de informaci�n, S.L.
Baldwin, Carliss & Kim Clark
2004 - 01
full paper (414 KB)
We argue that the architecture of a codebase is a critical factor that lies at the heart of the open source development process. To support this argument, we define two observable properties of an architecture: (1) its modularity and (2) its option values. Developers can make informed judgments about modularity and option value from early code releases. Their judgments in turn will influence their decisions to work and to contribute their code back to the community. We go on to suggest that the core of the open source development process can be thought of as two linked games played within a codebase architecture. The first game involves the implicit exchange of effort directed at the modules and option values of a codebase; the second is a Prisoners' Dilemma game triggered by the irreducible costs of communicating. The implicit exchange of effort among developers is made possible by the the non-rivalrous nature of the codebase and by the modularity and option values of the codebase's architecture. This exchange creates value for all participants, both workers and free-riders. In contrast, the Prisoners' Dilemma is a problem that must be surmounted if the exchanges are to take place. It can be addressed through a combination of reducing the costs of communication, providing rewards, and encouraging repeated interactions. Finally, the initial design and "opening up" of a codebase can be seen as a rational move by an architect who is seeking to test the environment in hopes of initiating exchanges of effort with other developers.
Harvard Business School
Biscay, Carlos Emilio Biscay
2004 - 01
full paper (427 KB)
Primeramente vamos a ver �Qu� es el Open source? �Cu�les son sus objetivos y sus caracter�sticas fundamentales?. En segundo lugar haremos un recorrido hist�rico de los �ltimos a�os, identificando los principales desarrollos del Open source y sus tendencias, especialmente en el �rea de la educaci�n superior. En tercer lugar mostramos el Proyecto Sakai, donde un grupo de Universidades de Primer nivel est�n uniendo fuerzas para integrar y para sincronizar su software educativo en una colecci�n de herramientas de Open source para e-learning. A continuaci�n haremos mencionaremos los principales aplicaciones de OS en general. Seguidamente, he de tratar de poner de relieve los aspectos t�cnicos y psicol�gicos que est�n presentes en el Open Source y sus protagonistas y las razones econ�micas, pol�ticas y culturales que se vinculan o crean un contexto favorable al crecimiento de las soluciones de open source en el mercado y especialmente en mercado del e-learning. Finalmente y como s�ntesis de estas cuestiones describimos el caso concreto de la Universidad de Wisconsin, que actualmente junto a otras instituciones educativas se ha sumado en el proyecto Sakai.
e-ABC
Prufer, Jens
2004 - 01
Network Formation via Contests: The Production Process of Open Source Software
full paper (230 KB)
Why do both software developers and firms contribute to the production process of Open Source Software (OSS) despite not receiving direct monetary rewards for it? This papers extends results of the economic literature by modelling the OSS production process as an application contest to a "qualified network". The winners receive reputation and high investments. Investors searching for highly talented applicants profit from the selection mechanism of the OSS production process and finance it to receive inside information. We describe incentives for developers and firms and compare the mechanism with alternatives for its efficiency.
J.W. Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main
Spinellis, Diomidis, Clemens Szyperski
2004 - 01
How is Open Source affecting software development?
full paper (497 KB)
Paper describes impact of using open source software in general development environments. (From the intro): " The dynamism of open source software development efforts, numerous high-profile success stories, and the novel economic, business, and legal aspects of open source software adoption are justifiably creating a stir in the development community. We software practitioners increasingly face the possibility of using or basing our work on open source components, libraries, frameworks, systems, platforms, and development environments."
Athens University, Microsoft Research
Suzor, Nic, Brian Fitzgerald & Graham Bassett
2004 - 01
Legal Issues for the Use of Free and Open Source Software in Government
full paper (155 KB)
This paper examines some of the legal issues that face the uptake of free and open source software in government in Australia. This paper was presented at the 'Linux and Open Source in Government' conference, part of Linux.Conf.Au 2004 in Adelaide, Australia.
Queensland U of Tech., Bank of New South Wales
Chiao, Benjamin Hak-Fung
2003 - 12
full paper (392 KB)
The theory is that free and open source software is private property under the guise of common property. Such software is distributed mostly under the GNU General Public License. The intents in The GNU Manifesto suggest striking similarities between this license and communism. The resulting economic properties, however, are similar to those of Chinese-style socialism: both resulted from an increased separation of legal and economic ownership. The phenomenal growth of China in the last twenty five years and of such software in the past few years could be attributed to such separation.
New York University
Crowston, Kevin, Annabi, Hala, & Howison, James
2003 - 12
Defining Open Source Software Project Success
full paper (201 KB)
Information systems success is one of the most widely used dependent variables in information systems research. In this paper, we identify a range of measures that can be used to assess the success of open source software (OSS) projects. We identify measures based on a review of the literature, a consideration of the OSS development process and an analysis of the opinions of OSS developers. For each measure, we provide examples of how they might be used in a study of OSS development.
Syracuse University
Dafermos, George
2003 - 12
full paper (1.4 MB)
Weblogs have been recently characterised as the "open source media". And in much the same way that open source software is been deployed, marketed and sold within both commercial and non-commercial contexts, weblogs can advance both commercial and non-commercial objectives. However, in this primary - research paper, the focus is on the benefits that organisations can seize by embracing weblogs, and how weblogs are bound to revitalise marketplace and workplace conversations. In addition, several case studies are being analysed, ranging from Slashdot and Openflows to Amazon, Macromedia, Groove Networks, and Gizmodo.
Kalwey, Nadine, Stefan Kooths & Markus Langenfurth
2003 - 12
Open Source Software - An Economic Assessment
full paper (636 KB)
This study examines whether or not Open Source Software represents an economically suitable alternative to the proprietary commercial software market in terms of creating value-added and economic efficiency. Whereas no significant differences between both production processes are seen for customized software, the study comes to the conclusion that serious economic problems can occur in the field of packaged software. Starting from a discussion on how licenses like the GPL affect the ability to price software (which is usually below economic production costs), the impact of below cost pricing on the coordination capacity of software markets (customer sovereignty, resource allocation, income distribution, adaptability and innovation) and the sustainability of complementary strategies of Open Source business models (with and without cross subsidization of the non-market OSS-core) are described. Throughout the study, the role of the pricing system within a market economy is stressed considering the specific characteristics of software as an economic good. Aspects other than economic are not taken into account.
University of Muenster (Germany)
McCormick, Chip
2003 - 12
'Dissertation in progress
This dissertation involved in-depth interviews of over fifty open source developers in two major open source projects. The primary areas of interest were 1) conducting an ethnographic study of the work practices and culture of 'post-burecratic' organizations to see what lessons these groups may hold for managing intellectual labor and 2) examining whether the open source movement represents a new professional model for software engineering.
University at Albany, NY
Reagle, Joseph
2003 - 12
Socialization in Open Technical Communities
link to paper
While many definitions of openness focus on the character and licenses of the software products, relatively few directly address the character of the social organization that develops those products. This essay offers a definition of openness and considers how that characteristic affects the recruitment and socialization of newcomers to such organizations. The relevance of socialization is clear when one consider the growth of on-line communities, and precariousness of membership in voluntary organizations. I then suggest that "forking," a split of the communities, is integral to the definition of openness and a possible vector of communicating social norms between communities, and that a significant difference between open technical communities and some other open/voluntary communities is the internal orientation of status seeking within the community.
NYU
Garzarelli, Giampaolo & Roberto Galoppini
2003 - 11
full paper (372 KB)
The paper analyzes voluntary Free Software/Open Source Software (FS/OSS) organization of work. The empirical setting considered is the Debian GNU/Linux operating system. The paper finds that the production process is hierarchical notwithstanding the modular (nearly decomposable) architecture of software and of voluntary FS/OSS organization. But voluntary FS/OSS project organization is not hierarchical for the same reasons suggested by the most familiar theories of economic organization: hierarchy is justified for coordination of continuous change, rather than for the direction of static production. Hierarchy is ultimately the overhead attached to the benefits engendered by modular organization.
Universit� degli Studi di Roma, ACME Solutions
Modica, Salvatore
2003 - 11
Knowledge Transfer in R&D; Outsourcing (and Linux-Vs-Windows)
full paper (263 KB)
Why did Microsoft not hire all those smart programmers who ended up developing Linux through the internet? Because, we answer, the value of the information about its operating system that Microsoft should have transferred to any of them to render her productive would have been too high compared to her expected individual contribution, so that after writing a contract with Microsoft the typical developer would have run away to sell the acquired knowledge on the market. On the other hand, knowledge transfer in R&D; outsourcing is not always so critical, and for example in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries research contracts are extensively used, usually in the context of a long term relationship between firm and innovator. We analyze this kind of repeated interaction, and find that when the knowledge-transfer problem is not blocking, the firm should transfer to the innovator as much information as it is compatible with the latter's incentive constraints.
Universita' di Palermo, Italy
Muffatto, Moreno & Matteo Faldani
2003 - 11
Open Source as a Complex Adaptive System - Published in Emergence 5 (3)
link to published paper
The Open Source community and its activities can be considered to have the characteristics of a system. The Open Source system is distinctive because it is neither controlled by a central authority that defines strategy and organization nor totally chaotic. It can be placed at a middle position between a planned system and a chaotic one. In this sort of position there are non-formal rules which allow the system to produce significant results. The Complex Adaptive System theory can be used to better understand and analyze the Open Source system. This work presents a description of the main characteristics of the functioning of the Open Source community regarding its organizational structure and development process. The concept of complex adaptive system is then introduced and its functioning mechanisms briefly described. Finally, we will interpret the characteristics of the Open Source community in the context of complex adaptive systems theory.
University of Padua, ITALY
von Krogh, Georg, Stefan Haelfliger & Sebastian Spaeth
2003 - 11
Collective Action and Communal Resources in Open Source Software Development:The Case of Freenet
full paper (192 KB)
Building on resource mobilization theory, we explore three distinct rewards for individuals to engage in innovative collective action, namely open source software development. The three rewards, which we term communal resources, are reputation, control over technology, and learning opportunities. The collective action (the open source software development project) produces the communal resources in parallel with the actual product (software) and mobilizes programmers to spend time and effort, and contribute their knowledge to the project. Communal resources appear as a byproduct to the production process and represent a public good of second order. We show that they increase in value for individuals along with their involvement in the community. Empirical data from Freenet, an open source software project for peer-to-peer software, illustrates both the levels of involvement and the communal resources.
University of St. Gallen
Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cristina Rossi
2003 - 10
full paper (692 KB)
A growing body of economic literature is addressing the incentives of the individuals that take part to the Open Source movement. However, empirical analyses focus on individual developers and neglect firms that do business with Open Source software (OSS). During 2002, we conducted a large-scale survey on 146 Italian firms supplying Open Source solutions in Italy. In this paper our data on firms� motivations are compared with data collected by the surveys made on individual programmers. We aim at analysing the role played by different classes of motivations (social, economic and technological) in determining the involvement of different groups of agents in Open Source activities.
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
O'Mahony, Siobhan & Fabrizio Ferraro
2003 - 10
Managing the Boundary of an �Open� Project
full paper (1.5 MB)
In the past ten years, the boundaries between public and open science and commercial research efforts have become more porous. Scholars have thus more critically examined ways in which these two institutional regimes intersect. Large open source software projects have also attracted commercial collaborators and now struggle to develop code in an open public environment that still protects their communal boundaries. This research applies a dynamic social network approach to understand how one community managed software project, Debian, develops a membership process. We examine the project�s face-to-face social network during a five-year period (1997-2001) to see how changes in the social structure affect the evolution of membership mechanisms and the determination of gatekeepers. While the amount and importance of a contributor�s work increases the probability that a contributor will become a gatekeeper, those more central in the social network are more likely to become gatekeepers and influence the membership process. A greater understanding of the mechanisms open projects use to manage their boundaries has critical implications for research and knowledge producing communities operating in pluralistic, open and distributed environments.
Harvard Business School, IESE Business School
Schach, Jin, Wright, Heller & Offutt
2003 - 10
Quality Impacts of Clandestine Common Coupling
link
The number of instances of common coupling between a module M and the other modules can be changed without any explicit change to M; this is termed "clandestine common coupling." This paper presents results from a study of clandestine common coupling in 391 versions of Linux. Specifically, the common coupling between each of 5332 kernel modules and the rest of the product as a whole was measured. In more than half of the new versions, a change in common coupling was observed, even though none of the modules themselves was changed.
Vanderbilt Uni.; Macquarie Uni.; George Mason Uni.
Schach, Jin, Wright, Heller & Offutt
2003 - 10
Maintainability of the Linux Kernel
link
We have examined 365 versions of Linux. For every version, we counted the number of instances of common (global) coupling between each of the 17 kernel modules and all the other modules in that version of Linux. We found that the number of instances of common coupling grows exponentially with version number. This result is significant at the 99.99% level, and no additional variables are needed to explain this increase. We conclude that, unless Linux is restructured with a bare minimum of common coupling, the dependencies induced by common coupling will, at some future date, make Linux exceedingly hard to maintain without inducing regression faults.
Vanderbilt Uni.; Macquarie Uni.; George Mason Uni.
Schach, Jin, Yu, Heller & Offutt
2003 - 10
Determining the Distribution of Maintenance Categories: Survey versus Measurement
link
In 1978, Lientz, Swanson, and Tompkins ("LST") published the results of a survey on software maintenance. They found that 17.4% of maintenance effort was categorized as corrective in nature, 18.2% as adaptive, 60.3% as perfective, and 4.1% was categorized as other. We contrast this survey-based result with our empirical results from the analysis of data for the repeated maintenance of a commercial real-time product and two open-source products, the Linux kernel and GCC. For all three products and at both levels of granularity we considered, our observed distributions of maintenance categories were statistically very highly significantly different from LST. In particular, corrective maintenance was always more than twice the LST value.
Vanderbilt Uni.; Macquarie Uni.; George Mason Uni.
Bauer, Andreas & Markus Pizka
2003 - 09
The Contribution of Free Software to Software Evolution
full paper (210 KB)
t is remarkable to think that even without any interest in finding suitable methods and concepts that would allow complex software systems to evolve and remain manageable, the ever growing open source movement has silently managed to establish highly successful evolution techniques over the last two decades. These concepts represent best practices that could be applied equally to a number of today�s most crucial problems concerning the evolution of complex commercial software systems. In this paper, the authors state and explain some of these principles from the perspective of experienced open source developers, and give the rationale as to why the highly dynamic free software development process, as a whole, is entangled with constantly growing code bases and changing project sizes, and how it deals with these successfully.
Technische Universit�at M�unchen
Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon & Pankag Ghemawat
2003 - 09
Dynamic Mixed Duopoly: A Model Motivated by Linux vs. Windows
full paper (524 KB)
This paper analyzes a dynamic mixed duopoly in which a profit-maximizing competitor interacts with a competitor that prices at zero (or marginal cost), with the cumulation of output affecting their relative positions over time. The modeling effort is motivated by interactions between Linux, an open-source operating system, and Microsofts Windows in the computer server segment, and consequently emphasizes demand-side learning effects that generate dynamic scale economies (or network externalities). Analytical characterizations of the equilibrium under such conditions are offered, and some comparative static and welfare effects are examined.
IESE, Harvard Business School
Demil, Benoit & Xavier Lecocq
2003 - 09
Neither market or hierarchy or network: The emerging bazaar governance
full paper (192 KB)
Despite the growing body of literature describing the open-source phenomenon, few contributions have been theoretically grounded and research has largely focused on the software industry. Drawing on transaction cost economics, we go beyond these limitations and advance that open source constitutes a new generic governance structure�which we label bazaar governance� based on a specific contract. We characterize this structure in terms of its strengths and weaknesses and in comparison with market, firm and network structures. We consider how bazaar governance is actualized within an industry and the institutional entrepreneur�s crucial role in this process. Finally, we propose that bazaar governance has a profound impact on the structure of the industry in which it is introduced.
Universit� Lille, Inst. d�Admin. des Entreprises
Fitzgerald, Brian & Bassett Graham
2003 - 09
Legal Issues Relating to Free and Open Source Software
Book (1.8 MB)
This is the publication that follows the 'Legal Issues Relating to Free and Open Source Software Conference' that was held in Brisbane, Australia on 3 July 2002. The conference examined legal and business issues facing the development and implementation of free and open source software. The presenters were lawyers, academics and software developers expert in the area drawn from Australia and the USA.
Queensland U of Tech., Bank of New South Wales
Gonz�lez-Barahona, Jes�s M & Gregorio Robles
2003 - 09
Free software engineering: A field to explore
full paper (271 KB)
The challenge of free software is not that of a new competitor who, under the same rules, produces software faster, cheaper and of a better quality. Free software differs from "traditional" software in more fundamental aspects, starting with philosophical reasons and motivations, continuing with new economic and market rules and ending up with a different way of producing software. Software Engineering cannot ignore this phenomenon, and the last five years or so has seen ever more research into all these issues. This article takes a look at the most significant studies in this field and the results they are producing, with a view to providing the reader with a vision of the state of the art and the future prospects of what we have come to call free Software Engineering.
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Lakhani, Karim R & Bob Wolf
2003 - 09
full paper (378 KB)
In this paper we report on the results of a study of the effort and motivations of individuals to contributing to the creation of Free/Open Source software. We surveyed 684 software developers in 287 F/OSS projects, to learn what lies behind the effort put into such projects. Academic theorizing on individual motivations for participating in F/OSS projects has posited that external motivational factors in the form of extrinsic benefits are the main drivers of effort. We find in contrast, that enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on the project, is the strongest and most pervasive driver. We also find that user need, intellectual stimulation derived from writing code, and improving programming skills are top motivators for project participation.
MIT Sloan and BCG
Matuska, Martin
2003 - 09
MS Thesis (1.2 MB)
The number of open source projects is growing. The largest part can be found on large develompent portals. But open source is not open source, each project has unique characteristics. This paper examines operational and organizational characteristics, licencing, communication and documentation specifications of open source projects and explains the trove categorization model introduced by SourceForge.net.
Vienna University of Economics and BA
van Reijswoud, Victor & Corrado Topi
2003 - 09
Alternative Routes in the Digital World: Open Source Software in Africa
full paper (216 KB)
Software allows people to work with computers. Operating Software controls the hardware components and application software provide tools to facilitate and support the users' work. Most of the softwares are owned by private people or companies and users by licenses to use the software. This type of software is called proprietary or closed source software since the user purchases a license for using the product and the actual product (source code). At present Microsoft and Oracle are the biggest producers of this type software in the world. In the two decades a new approach for software development is emerging. Open Source Software movement is built on the premise that better software is produced when everyone is allowed to modify and change the software. So, in stead of selling user licenses, the product (source code) is distributed. The article discusses the differences between Open and Closed Source Software and reasons that organizations in the African context should decide to embrace the Open Source Software initiative. Several emerging initiatives promoting the use of Open Source Software are considered.
Uganda Martyrs Univ. & Univ. Of Huddersfield
Aigrain, Philippe
2003 - 08
The Individual and the Collective in Open Information Communities
invited talk (21 KB)
This paper is the written version of an invited talk at the 16th Bled Electronic Conference, Slovenija, June 2003. The text focuses on 2 critical issues for open information communities: how lowering transactions costs linked to becoming an active contributor is an essential factor for their success; and how free (as in freedom) licenses enable new forms of relationships between the individual and the collective. I bring some evidence that this permits to overcome some of the traditional limitations of commons in the physical world. The analysis uses as examples the free Wiki-based encyclopedia Wikipedia and the peer-reviewed free encyclopedia Nupedia, the Slashdot technical news community (commercial), and Web sites using the SPIP free co-operative publishing software.
Society for Public Information Spaces
Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cristina Rossi
2003 - 08
full paper (618 KB)
Contrary to what most people assume, Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. A software is considered Open Source if and only if its distribution terms [i.e. the license] comply with the set of criteria defined by the Open Source Definition (OSD). That is, to say that a code is Open Source is to say that it is subject to a member of a particular category of licenses (McGowan, 2000). As many others in the Open Source field, the research on Open Source licenses suffers from lack of empirical data. Although in the literature there are empirical studies that explore the relationships between license choice and project characteristics (Lerner and Tirole, 2002a), at present we are not aware of surveys that collect data on licensors, that is on firms producing and distributing software on an Open Source basis. This study addresses his shortcoming. We examine the license choice of the firms that supply Open Source products and services and relate it to their structural characteristics, business models and attitudes towards the movement and its community. Between September 2002 and March 2003 we conducted a survey on Italian firms that do business with Open Source software. We asked them to indicate the Open Source licenses with which they work, for the distribution of their software as well as the production process. We made reference to the distinction between copyleft and non-copyleft distribution schemes. Using these data, this paper aims at testing several theoretical hypotheses advanced by the literature on Open Source licenses. In order to make the discussion more lively, for each issue we present the hypothesis and our findings in sequence.
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cristina Rossi
2003 - 08
Altruistic individuals, selfish firms? The structure of motivation in Open Source software
full paper (303 KB)
A growing body of economic literature is addressing the incentives of the individuals that take part to the Open Source movement. However, empirical analyses focus on individual developers and neglect firms that do business with Open Source software (OSS). During 2002, we conducted a large-scale survey on 146 Italian firms supplying Open Source solutions in Italy. In this paper our data on firms� motivations are compared with data collected by the surveys made on individual programmers. We aim at analysing the role played by different classes of motivations (social, economic and technological) in determining the involvement of different groups of agents in Open Source
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cristina Rossi
2003 - 08
full paper (770 KB)
This paper studies the contributions to Open Source projects of software firms. Our goal is to analyse whether they follow the same regularities that characterize the behaviour of individual programmers. An exhaustive empirical analysis is carried out using data on project membership, project coordination and contribution efforts of 146 Italian firms that do business with Open Source software. We follow a meta-analytic approach comparing our findings with the results of the surveys conducted on Free Software programmers. Moreover, the availability of the data gathered by Hertel et al. (2003) on 141 developers of the Linux kernel will allow direct comparisons between the two sets.
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
Bonaccorsi, Andrea, Cristina Rossi & Alessandro Scateni
2003 - 08
An analysis of Open Source production in Italy
report (1 MB)
Final report of a survey on Italian firms that do business with Open Source software
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
Gabriel, Richard P & Ron Goldman
2003 - 08
Open Source: Beyond the Fairytales
full paper (244 KB)
Open source is a software development model that to many is synonymous with a free and free-wheeling operating system juggernaut destined to upend current computer markets. IBM is embracing Linux to unify its hardware product line, and Microsoft is screaming that open source is anti-American and destructive of intellectual property. Analysts and executive have been gathering around open source to find out what it�s all about, and people like Eric Raymond and Linus Torvalds once indistinguishable from society�s stereotype of the elfin programmers working in the dark on the software that powers the digital age have become heroes, spokesmen, and leaders in the new age of anti-monopolistic software. But is this narrow view adequate? Open source, for corporations, has more to do with a particular business strategy than it does with any specific technology. In fact, technology is just another piece of the puzzle for a successful technology company certainly it�s a necessary piece, but often it�s not the distinguishing piece.
Sun Microsystems
Meyer, Peter
2003 - 08
Episodes of Collective Invention
full paper (183 KB)
The process of developing technology through open discussion has been called collective invention. Open source software projects have this form. This paper documents two earlier episodes of collective invention and proposes a general model based on search theory. One episode was the development of mass production steel in the U.S. (1866-1885), and the second with early personal computers (1975-1985). Technical people openly discussed and shared these developing technologies between firms. Collective invention episodes begin with an invention or a change in legal restrictions. Hobbyists and startup firms experiment with practical methods of production and share their results through a social network whose members gradually form a new industry.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Barnes, Jonathan
2003 - 07
Open Source Software as an organisational Technology
full paper(171 KB)
This paper is still relatively preliminary, yet it provides a decent introduction to open source, as well as including discussion on various economic issues, contained in the following sections: The benefits of Open Source, Possible incentives that encourage contribution, Barriers to widespread implementation of Open Source.
University of Canterbury
Iannacci, Federico
2003 - 07
full paper (153 KB)
This study focuses on the distinguishing traits of the Linux managing model. It introduces the concept of process to capture the idea of impermanence, dissolvability and change. Far from being a predictable flow of programming, assembling and releasing activities, it is suggested that the Linux development process displays a stream of activities that keep feeding back into each other, thus creating a complex and unpredictable outcome. The paper further introduces the concept of contingent response patterns to investigate the interaction flows occurring on the Linux mailing lists and subsume patch postings, bug reports and the associated reviewing and debugging activities under its umbrella. The enactment-selection-retention (ESR) model is subsequently brought forward to conceptualize this process as enactment of programming skills subject to selection activities conducted by Torvalds who retains the selected features and feeds them back to the developers� pool to undergo further enactment activities.
London School of Economics
Lanzara, Giovan R & Michele Morner
2003 - 07
The Knowledge Ecology of Open-Source Software Projects
full paper (250 KB)
In this paper we characterize the processes of knowledge making in open-source software projects as an ecology of agents, artifacts, rules, resources, activities, practices and interactions. In order to grasp its dynamic features we consider open-source software projects as interactive systems based on dense interactions between humans and technical artifacts within electronic media. Technology, rather than formal or informal organization, embodies most of the conditions for governance in open-source software projects, hence becoming a critical pathway to the understanding of collective task accomplishment, coordination and knowledge making processes. Based on an in-depth analysis of two open-source software projects, we examine three kinds of artifacts, respectively inscribing technical, organizational, and institutional knowledge. Our preliminary findings support the ecological view, that the contradictory requirements of innovation and stability in project-based knowledge making are balanced by mechanisms of variation, selection, and stabilization.
Universit� di Bologna, Katholischen Universit�t Ei
Comino, Stefano & Fabio M. Manenti
2003 - 06
Open Source vs Closed Source Software: Public Policies in the Software Market
full paper (540 KB)
This paper analyses the impact of public policies supporting open source software (OSS). Users can be divided between those who know about the existence of OSS, the informed adopters, and the uninformed ones; the presence of uniformed users yields to market failures that justify government intervention. We study three policies: i) mandatory adoption, when government forces public agencies, schools and universities to adopt OSS, ii) information campaign, when the government informs the uninformed users about the existence and the characteristics of OSS and, iii) subsidisation, when consumers are payed a subsidy when adopting OSS. We show that the second policy enhances welfare, the third is always welfare decreasing while mandatory adoption can be either good or bad for society depending on the number of informed and uninformed adopters.
University of Padua
G�rling, Stefan
2003 - 06
A critical approach to Open Source Software
MS Thesis (358 KB)
The purpose of this masters' thesis was to discuss a number of assumptions regarding the benefits of Open Source software projects. By studying what has been written about Open Source combined with a number of own data collections, this thesis argues that: Brooks law is still valid in Open Source projects; Many Open Source projects are failures; Open Source culture is a product of the 90s, not the 70s Open Source is no guarantee for reduced lock-in effects; Our most famous Open Source projects are not built up by nerds working for free, but professionals, employed by commercial companies to contribute to the projects; Large Open Source projects are often hierarchical and bureaucratic Opening your source does not automatically lead to a large number of contributors; Open Source breeds diversity, not a single winner; Open Source projects often targets the community itself, rather than external actors; Companies benefiting from Open Source are often based on traditional business models rather than revolutionary visions. Open Source is not necessarily an efficient way to develop software.
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Nichols, David M, Dana McKay & Michael Twidale
2003 - 06
Participatory Usability: supporting proactive users
full paper (256 KB)
After software has been released the opportunities for users to influence development can often be limited. In this paper we review the research on post-deployment usability and make explicit its connections to open source software development. We describe issues involved in the design of end-user reporting tools with reference to the Safari web browser and a digital library prototype.
University of Waikato, University of Illinois
Shah, Sonali
2003 - 06
Dissertation chapter (373
This paper explores the motivations of participants from two software development communities and finds that most participants are motivated by either a need to use the software or an enjoyment of programming. The latter group, hobbyists or enthusiasts, are critical to the long-term viability and sustainability of open source software code: they take on tasks that might otherwise go undone, are largely need-neutral as they make decisions, and express a desire to maintain the simplicity, elegance, and modularity of the code. The motives of hobbyist evolve over time; most join the community because they have a need for the software and stay because they enjoy programming in the context of a particular community. Governance and licensing structures affect this evolution.
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champign
Tuomi, Ilkka
2003 - 06
book chapter (66 KB)
Integrating concepts from multiple theoretical disciplines and detailed analyses of the evolution of Internet-related innovations (including computer networking, the World Wide Web and the Linux open source operating system), this book develops foundations for a new theoretical and practical understanding of innovation. It includes a detailed analysis of the Linux open source development model." The table of contents, references, and other related material is available here
Institute for Prospective Tech. Studies, Spain
Fitzgerald, Brian & Tony Kenny
2003 - 05
Open Source Software can Improve the Health of the Bank Balance - The Beaumont Hospital Experience
full paper (298 KB)
This study describes the implementation of open source software in a large Irish public sector organization, Beaumont Hospital. The findings reveal a radical shift in open source deployment from invisible horizontal infrastructure systems to highly visible vertical applications. The case study describes the implementation of these systems, the difficulties encountered, and also the benefits in terms of astonishing cost savings of �13m over 5 years. . Given that Beaumont were already receiving academic pricing discounts for many of their original proprietary closed source applications, the savings for a typical commercial organization could be even higher. The study also identifies the primary drivers in the move to OSS, namely principle, pragmatism and practicality. The study also indicates how a typical company can contribute back to the OSS community in their own unique way, by distributing applications form their own domain of expertise, rather than having to make detailed code contributions to the original code base.
University of Limerick, Beaumont Hospital
Greenberg, Robert
2003 - 05
Open Source Software Development
Undergrad Thesis (500 KB)
This paper examines applies basic economic theory to Open Source Software Development. Through examination of rational actor behavior I show why economically motivated individuals and firms choose to develop code that to be given away freely. It also examines the various Open Source licenses, including the two most common, the Free Software Foundation�s General Public License (GPL) and Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) License. Included are case studies to illustrate the workings of Open Source Software projects and how profit seeking firms have attached themselves to them. These case studies include the Apache Web Server, Mozilla, IBM, Microsoft�s Shared Source Initiative, and Red Hat. The associated business plans are also discussed. An executive summary precedes the paper and a glossary is attached to the end.
University of Michigan/Brandeis University
Long, Anthony
2003 - 05
How Firm Initiation and Control of Projects Affects Open-Source Development
full paper (270 KB)
After witnessing the success of open-source projects such as Linux and Apache, firms have sought to appropriate the open-source development model and integrate it into their own projects. Firms face a dilemma, however, since their initiation and control of open-source projects affects the traditional open-source development model in significant ways. Once a firm takes the role of starting and guiding an open-source project, the open-source development model that attracted the firm is forever altered. This paper examines the effects commercial firms have on the open-source development model when they initiate and control open-source projects.
Harvard University
Narduzzo, Alessandro & Alessandro Rossi
2003 - 05
Modularity in Action: GNU/Linux and Free/Open Source Software Development Model Unleashed
full paper (297 KB)
Organizational and managerial theories of modularity applied to the design and production of complex artifacts are used to interpret the rise and success of Free/Open Source Software. Strengths and risks of the adoption of a modular approach in software project management are introduced and are related to the achievements of the GNU/Linux project. It is suggested that mindful implementation of the principles of modularity may improve the rate of success of many Free/Open Source software projects. Authors suggest a possible revision towards an improved theory of modularity that may be extended also to settings different from software production.
University of Bologna, University of Trento
Samoladas, Ioannis & Ioannis Stamelos
2003 - 05
Assessing Free/Open Source Software Quality
full paper (325 KB)
According to its proponents, one of the most acclaimed advantages of Free/Open Source Software (F/OSS) is its superior quality. However, this suggestion is an open issue, since there is little concrete evidence to justify whether F/OSS quality is indeed better or worse than that of proprietary software products. The general perspective of this article is to discuss the current status of F/OSS quality and to assess its performance in various aspects of quality, based on existing literature. Specifically, this article will provide some answers to various questions raised by the assertion concerning the quality of F/OSS. In this regard issues addressed in this article include the quality framework, through which F/OSS quality should be investigated and the performance of F/OSS in various quality factors within this quality framework. Answers to these issues are given by providing evidence from various research papers, empirical studies and reports based on experience about the quality of F/OSS products. The overall results seem to indicate that F/OSS has achieved an acceptable level of quality, although there is more to be done in order to outperform proprietary software.
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Shaikh, Maha & Tony Cornford
2003 - 05
Version Management Tools: CVS to BK in the Linux Kernel
full paper (233 KB)
Version management tools might be seen as a prerequisite for open source development today as projects become too large to be managed by maintainers alone. Yet the OS process depends on fluid coordination and collaboration, with the underlying qualities of this process based on firm trust and respect for fellow developers. This paper is a study of how debate over version tools reflects governance and decision making in an OS community. The paper is based on a study of the Linux kernel community as it first saw a partial acceptance of the CVS tool, and then later adopted BK. The paper explains the adoption processes in relation to governance concerns, licence issue, and questions of technical performance.
London School of Economics
Elliott, Margret & Walt Scacchi
2003 - 04
Free Software Development: A Case Study of Software Development in a Virtual Organizational Culture
full paper (952 KB)
This study examines how organizational cultural beliefs and values of a free software virtual organization influence software development processes. This study shows how these beliefs and values are manifested in software development methods, artifacts, and tool choice, as well as how dispersed developers cooperate and resolve conflict in a virtual community.
University of California, Irvine
Ghosh, Rishab Ayer
2003 - 04
Clustering and Dependencies in Free/Open Source Software Development: Methodology and Tools
full paper (340 KB)
This paper addresses the problem of measurement of non-monetary economic activity, specifically in the area of free/open source software communities. It describes the problems associated with research on these communities in the absence of measurable monetary transactions, and suggests possible alternatives.. A class of techniques using software source code as factual documentation of economic activity is described and a methodology for the extraction, interpretation and analysis of empirical data from software source code is detailed, with the outline of algorithms for identifying collaborative authorship and determining the identity of coherent economic actors in developer communities. Finally, conclusions are drawn from the application of these techniques to a base of software.
University of Maastricht
Kim, Eugene Eric
2003 - 04
An Introduction to Open Source Communities
full paper (443 KB)
This report describes what open source communities are and how they work. It cites relevant research and presents original case studies of two open source projects: TouchGraph and SquirrelMail. It then identifies patterns of collaboration shared by these projects, and describes how these patterns might apply to other types of communities. Finally, it reviews what is still not well understood about open source communities, and proposes several paths for further research.
Blue Oxen Associates
Scacchi , Walt
2003 - 04
Free/Open Source Software Development Practices in the Computer Game Community
full paper (1.6MB)
This paper provides results from empirical studies that begin to outline some of the processes and practices for how F/OSS systems are developed in different communities. Examples drawn from the world of computer games reveal how processes and practices for the development and propagation of F/OSS technology are intertwined and mutually situated to benefit those motivated to use and contribute to it.
University of California, Irvine
Scacchi , Walt
2003 - 04
full paper (1.1 MB)
This study examines whether the evolution of open source software conforms to the laws of software evolution that have been in development for more than 30 years. Given evidence and data that may not conform, it becomes necessary to consider how the laws and theory might be revamped to better account for the data that characterizes both conventional closed source software and F/OSS system evolution.
University of California, Irvine
Vad�n Tere
2003 - 04
Intellectual Property, Open Source and Free Software
full paper (17 KB)
The notion of intellectual property is used in order to create digital commodities. While the commodification of code is useful for certain kinds of knowledge intesive work (the Taylorist forms), it severely disrupts other types of knowledge creation. Applying Scott Lash's division of knowledge creation into organisational and disorganisational types, we also gain insight into the different positions towards IP held by different wings of the FOSS community.
Hypermedialab, University of Tampere, Finland
Bonaccorsi, Andrea, Cristina Rossi & Silvia Giannangeli
2003 - 03
full paper (681 KB)
Although a growing body of literature is analysing Open Source software (OSS) issues, there is still lack of empirical data on the phenomenon and little is known about firms that enter the software industry by producing under the Open Source license scheme (Open Source firms). This paper is a contribution to fill this gap and focuses on the business models of these firms. We find significant heterogeneity among them, in particular many agents supply both proprietary and Open Source software. We present a model of adoption that studies the intra-firm diffusion of the new paradigm. Explanatory hypotheses are discussed analysing how the characteristics of the Open Source production mode and of network externalities in software demand shape the strategies of firms that entered the OSS field.
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies
Jensen, Chris & Walt Scacchi
2003 - 03
full paper (373 KB)
This paper describes a new approach to process discovery that examines the Internet information spaces of open source software development projects. Such knowledge can then be employed to determine the requirements and design of automated process discovery and modeling mechanisms that can be applied to Web-based open source software development projects.
University of California, Irvine
Lee, Samuel, Nina Moisa & Marco Weiss
2003 - 03
Open Source as a Signalling Device - An Economic Analysis
full paper (392 KB)
Open source projects produce goods or standards that do not allow for the appropriation of private returns by those who contribute to these projects. In this paper we analyze why programmers will nevertheless invest their time and effort to code open source software. We argue that the particular way in which open source projects are managed and especially how contributions are attributed to individual agents, allows the best programmers to create a signal that more mediocre programmers cannot achieve. Through setting themselves apart they can turn this signal into monetary rewards that correspond to their superior capabilities. With this incentive they will forgo the immediate rewards they could earn in software companies producing proprietary software by restricting the access to the source code of their product. Whenever institutional arrangements are in place that enable the acquisition of such a signal and the subsequent substitution into monetary rewards, the contribution to open source projects and the resulting public good is a feasible outcome that can be explained by standard economic theory.
J.W.Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main
Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cristina Rossi
2003 - 02
RP Special Issue: Why open source software can succeed
full paper (118K)
The paper discusses three key economic problems raised by the emergence and diffusion of open source software: motivation, coordination, and diffusion under a dominant standard. First the movement took off through the activity of a software development community that deliberately did not follow profit motivations. Second, a hierarchical coordination emerged without the support of an organization with proprietary rights. Third, Linux and other open source systems diffused in an evnvironment dominated by established proprietary standards, which benefited from significant increasing returns. The paper show that recent developments in the theory of critical mass in the diffusion of technologies with network externality may help to explain these phenomena.
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
Dalle, Jean-Michel & Paul A. David
2003 - 02
The Allocation of Software Development Resources in 'Open Source' Production
full paper (362 KB)
The paper develops a stochastic simulation model capable of describing the decentralized, micro-level decisions that allocate programming resources both within and among open source/free software (OS/FS) projects, and which critically shape their growth. The core or behavioral kernel of our simulation tool is based on dynamic "growing" trees, and incorporates the effects of the reputational reward structure of OS/FS communities as characterized by Eric S. Raymond (1998). In this regard, our line of investigation also follows recent approaches associated with studies of academic researchers in �open science� communities. For the purposes of this first step, we mainly focus on showing the ways in which the specific norms of the reward system and organizational rules can shape emergent properties of projects, and we also point to a validation in this framework of the often adovcated, but yet mainly empirical "release early" rule.
Stanford University
Franke, Nik and Eric von Hippel
2003 - 02
full paper (147 KB)
Manufacturers customarily provide only a few product variants to address the average needs of users in the major segments of markets they serve. When user needs are highly heterogeneous, this approach leaves many seriously dissatisfied. One solution is to enable users to modify products on their own using �innovation toolkits.� We explore the effectiveness of this solution in an empirical study of Apache security software. We find high heterogeneity of need in that field, and also find that users modifying their own software to be significantly more satisfied than non-innovating users. We propose that the user toolkits solution will be useful in many markets characterized by heterogeneous demand.d.onality on offer. We also find that users creating their own software modifications are significantly more satisfied than are non-innovating users. We conclude by suggesting that the "toolkits for user innovation" approach to enhancing user satisfaction might be generally applicable to markets characterized by heterogeneous user needs.
Vienna University, MIT
Hawkins, Richard
2003 - 02
The Economics of Free Software for a Competitive Firm
full paper (176 KB)
This paper builds a simple economic model of the profit seeking firm with a choice between producing an open source and proprietary solutions. Differences between public and viral licenses are discussed from the firm's perpective. Advocacy issues are omitted entirely, and the model requires no math beyond subtraction. The decision of a firm to adopt an open source product rather than purchase is also discussed, but is seen as a trivial and uninteresting problem.
Penn. State University
Hertel, Guido, Sven Niedner & Stefanie Herrmann
2003 - 02
full paper (255 KB)
The motives of 141 contributors to a large Open Source Software project (the Linux kernel) was explored with an internet-based questionnaire study. Measured factors were both derived from discussions within the Linux community as well as from models from social sciences. Participants� engagement was particularly determined by their identification as a Linux developer, by pragmatic motives to improve own software, and by their tolerance of time investments. Moreover, some of the software development was accomplished by teams. Activities in these teams were particularly determined by participants� evaluation of the team goals as well as by their perceived indispensability and self-efficacy.
University of Kiel
O'Mahony, Siobhan
2003 - 02
RP Special Issue: Guarding the Commons: How Community Managed Software Projects Protect Their Work
full paper (366 KB)
Theorists often speculate why open source and free software project contributors give their work away. Although contributors make their work publicly available, they do not forfeit their rights to it. Community managed software projects protect their work by using several legal and normative tactics, which should not be conflated with a disregard for or neglect of intellectual property rights. These tactics allow a project�s intellectual property to be publicly and freely available and yet, governable. Exploration of this seemingly contradictory state may provide new insight into governance models for the management of digital intellectual property.
Harvard Business School
Ratto, Matt
2003 - 02
Re-working by the Linux Kernel developers
full paper (497 KB)
Technology design is generally a matter of re-working existing systems rather than the designing of entirely novel artifacts. In this paper I explore part of a computer operating system called Linux that is designed to be re-worked by its users, a process I call 'designing for redesign'. I examine the practices of reworking within this development effort using some concepts gleaned from activity theory, a meta-theoretical model that particularly focuses on the simultaneously material and conceptual aspects of artifacts. This work is two-fold; first to examine design as part of a larger activity of re-working, and second, to begin to put together a model of socio-technical activity that incorporates the complex epistemological and ontological conditions that characterize current human conditions. Understanding the sociality and materiality of "knowing" and "doing" in technologized society means unpacking what we mean when we talk of 'access' and understanding 'use' as often an activity of re-working.
UC - San Diego
te Meerman, Sanne
2003 - 02
MS Thesis (730 KB)
This paper explains some of the necessary tasks that need to be performed for the construction and maintenance of software. These necessary activities are abstracted from ITIL, a best- practice 'blueprint', that is often used by IT companies to structure their processes. Next, using Social Network Analysis, an investigation is conducted to asses how the activities that ITIL describes are performed in the open source 'network'.
University of Groningen
von Krogh, Georg, Sebastian Spaeth & Karim R. Lakhani
2003 - 02
full paper (589 KB)
This paper develops an inductive theory of the open source software innovation process by focussing on the creation of Freenet, a project aimed at developing a decentralized and anonymous peer-to-peer electronic file sharing network. We are particularly interested in the strategies and processes by which new people join the existing community of software developers, and how they initially contribute code. Analyzing data from multiple sources on the Freenet software development process, we generate the constructs of "joining script", "specialization", "contribution barriers", and "feature gifts", and propose relationships among these. Implications for theory and research are discussed.
University of St. Gallen, MIT Sloan
West, Joel
2003 - 02
RP Special Issue: How Open is Open Enough? Melding Proprietary and Open Source Platform Strategies
full paper (125 KB)
Computer platforms provide an integrated architecture of hardware and software standards as a basis for developing complementary assets. The most successful platforms were owned by proprietary sponsors that controlled platform evolution and appropriated associated rewards. Responding to the Internet and open source systems, three traditional vendors of proprietary platforms experimented with hybrid strategies which attempted to combine the advantages of open source software while retaining control and differentiation. Such hybrid standards strategies reflect the competing imperatives for adoption and appropriability, and suggest the conditions under which such strategies may be preferable to either the purely open or purely proprietary alternatives.
San Jose State University
Zeitlyn, David
2003 - 02
full paper (145 KB)
Building on Eric Raymond�s work this article discusses the motivation and rewards that lead some software engineers to participate in the open source movement. It is suggested that software engineers in the open source movement may have sub-groupings which parallel kinship groups such as lineages. Within such groups gift giving is not necessarily or directly reciprocated, instead members work according to the �axiom of kinship amity� � direct economic calculation is not appropriate within the group. What Bourdieu calls �symbolic capital� can be used to understand how people work in order to enhance the reputation (of themselves and their group).
University of Kent at Canterbury
Camp, Jean L
2003 - 01
Code, Coding and Coded Perspectives
link
Building on computer science I consider code (as opposed to the Web, an instantiation of code) as a new technology of communication. Using the historical and sociological analyses of others, which have examined the results of print on perspectives and society, I offer four scenarios for the results of code. The four scenarios focus on the results of code on quantitative thought: the divergence of scientific perspective with popular reasoning resulting in reduced innovation; a broad-based popular explosion in innovation expanding the basis of reasoning; cypto-anarchy with those empowered by science corrupted with the power; and a loss of certainty of information with a return to tribalism. The last suggests a new era of ignorance, a moment in modern Dark Ages -- in that an excess of the light of information causes blindness as effectively as its absence. The openness of code is a determinant in the resulting social structure.
Harvard University
Healy, Kieran & Alan Schussman
2003 - 01
The Ecology of Open Source Software Development
full paper (246 KB)
A number of theories have emerged to explain the success of open source software, mainly from economics and law. We analyze a very large sample of OSS projects and find striking patterns in the overall structure of the development community. The distribution of projects on a range of activity measures is spectacularly skewed, with only a relatively tiny number of projects showing evidence of the strong collaborative activity which is supposed to characterize OSS. Our findings are consistent with prior, smaller-scale empirical research. We argue that these findings pose problems for the dominant accounts of OSS. We suggest that the gulf between active and inactive projects may be explained by social-structural features of the community which have received little attention in the existing literature. We suggest some hypotheses that might better predict the observed ecology of projects.
University of Arizona
Nichols, David M & Michael Twidale
2003 - 01
Usability and Open Source Software
full paper (105 KB)
Open source communities have successfully developed many pieces of software although most computer users only use proprietary applications. The usability of open source software is often regarded as one reason for this limited distribution. In this paper we review the existing evidence of the usability of open source software and discuss how the characteristics of open-source development influence usability. We describe how existing human-computer interaction techniques can be used to leverage distributed networked communities, of developers and users, to address issues of usability.
University of Waikato, University of Illinois
Nuvolari, Alessandro
2003 - 01
Open Source Software Development: Some Historical Perspectives
full paper (220 KB)
In this paper we suggest that historical studies of technology can help us to account for some, perplexing (at least for traditional economic reasoning) features of open source software development. When looked in historical perspective, open source software seems to be a particular case of what Robert Allen has termed "collective invention". We explore the interpretive value of this historical parallel in detail, comparing open source software with two remarkable episodes of nineteenth century technical advances.
Eindhoven University of Technology
V�lim�ki, Mikko
2003 - 01
Dual Licensing in Open Source Software Industry
full paper (82 KB)
This paper analyses how several open source companies use dual licensing: both open source and proprietary licenses for one product. Three case studies based on the experiences of companies Sleepycat Software Inc., MySQL AB, and TrollTech AS illustrate the issue. Especially the legal and economic requirements of dual licensing are identified.
Helsinki Institute for Information Technology
Hahn, Robert
2002 -12
Government Policy Towards Open Source Software (Edited Book)
link
Can open source software?software that is usually available without charge and that individuals are free to modify?survive against the fierce competition of proprietary software, such as Microsoft Windows? Should the government intervene on its behalf? This book addresses a host of issues raised by the rapid growth of open source software, including government subsidies for research and development, government procurement policy, and patent and copyright policy. Contributors offer diverse perspectives on a phenomenon that has become a lightning rod for controversy in the field of information technology.
AEI-Brookings Joint Center
CL�MENT-FONTAINE, M�lanie, Nicolas JULLIEN & Jean-Michel DALLE
2002 - 12
New economic models, new economy for software
full paper (1.1MB)
This report proposes some presentations and analysis of several FLOSS business models, and a juridical analysis of the use of Free licenses. We propose also a synthetical analysis of the impact of FLOSS on the computer industry.
French National Network for Software Technologies,
Lerner, Josh & Jean Tirole
2002 - 11
The Scope of Open Source Licensing
full paper (1.5 MB)
This paper is an initial exploration of the determinants of open source license choice. It first enumerates the various considerations that should figure into the licensor�s choice of contractual terms, in particular highlighting how the decision is shaped not just by the preferences of the licensor itself, but also by that of the community of developers. The paper then presents an empirical analysis of the determinants of license choice using the SourceForge database, a compilation of nearly 40,000 open source projects. Projects geared toward end-users tend to have restrictive licenses, while those oriented toward developers are less likely to do so. Projects that are designed to run on commercial operating systems and those geared towards the Internet are less likely to have restrictive licenses. Finally, projects that are likely to be attractive to consumers such as games are more likely to have restrictive licenses.
Harvard Business School, Institut d'Economie Indus
Osterloh, Margit; Sandra Rota & Bernhard Kuster
2002 - 11
Open Source Software Production: Climbing on the Shoulders of Giants
full paper (58 KB)
Open source software production is a successful new production model in which a public good is voluntarily provided. We argue that by studying this new production model we gain valuable insight for organization theory beyond software production. Under specific conditions this model can be generalized, contingent on the interplay of motivational, situational, and institutional factors. It is argued that a production model building on the shoulders of predecessors and peers depends on a well balanced portfolio of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, low costs for contributors and governance mechanisms that do not crowd out intrinsic motivation.
University of Zurich
Rothfuss, Gregor J
2002 - 11
A Framework for Open Source Projects
MS Thesis (1.5 MB)
The historical roots of Open Source are outlined. A comparison between Open Source projects and classical projects highlights strengths and weaknesses of both, and defines their attributes. Existing Open Source theories are evaluated, and the requirements for a framework for Open Source projects are determined. The framework introduces the notions of actors, roles, areas, processes and tools, and depicts their interrelationships in a matrix. Each aspect of the framework is then further developed to serve both as a conceptual foundation for Open Source and a help for organizing and managing Open Source projects.
University of Zurich
Schmidt, Klaus & Monika Schnitzer
2002 - 11
Public Subsidies for Open Source? Some Economic Policy Issues of the Software Market
full paper (317 KB)
This paper discusses the economic merits of direct or indirect governmental support for open source projects. Software markets differ from standard textbook markets in three important respects that may give rise to market failures: (i) large economies of scale, (ii) crucially important innovations, (iii) significant network effects and switching costs. We analyze the differences between proprietary software and open source software with respect to these market features and ask whether open source as an alternative to proprietary software can mitigate these problems. Then we discuss the implications of various forms of governmental support for open source.
University of Munich
Xu, Xiaopeng
2002 - 11
Development Costs and Open Source Software
full paper (160 KB)
This paper analyzes the effect of the development cost on an open source software enhancement that is developed by individual programmers in an Internet community. It considers a situation in which each programmer's cost of development is common knowledge but his valuation of the enhancement is his private information, with other programmers knowing about only its distribution. Depending on the distribution functions of programmers' valuations of the enhancement, a programmer with a lower development cost may have a less incentive to develop. As the development cost decreases, the enhancement may be less likely to be developed, and some programmers may be worse off.
UC - Berkeley
Aigrain, Philippe
2002 - 10
A Framework for Understanding GPL copylefting vs. non copylefting licenses
full paper (135 KB)
This article provides a framework to discuss the consequences of licensing choices that are applied to publicly funded libre choices. It disucsses these choices from the angle of general public interest and policy. It concludes that one is led to prefer GPL for any libre software component that is publicly funded and when its is providing functionality as part of the common infrastructure of the information society.
European Commission, Information Society DG
Iannacci, Frederico
2002 - 10
The Economics of Open Source Networks
full paper (55 KB)
The open-source movement is becoming an overarching feature of knowledgecreating environments and this research investigates the mechanisms whereby such a model comes into existence. Far from being the result of gifts of anonymous benefactors, the open-source model is the outcome of a conveyance of informative, valuative and incitive signals that larger sets of potential contributors construe in a subjective fashion. This study challenges the gift-economy metaphor and cautions the argument that open-source software is a reliable and generally applicable model for the forthcoming digital age.
London School of Economics
Siedlok, Franciszek
2002 - 10
M.A. Thesis (3.5 MB)
The main objective of this research is to examine the Open Source product development paradigm and its applicability to other than software industries. First part of this paper examines the NPD process, its evolution and main characteristics during years. Than approaches to product development adopted in Open Source projects are presented, with emphasis on the managerial and knowledge related issues, as those are focal to NPD. In the second part Open Source-based Product Development Model is being constructed and its applicability to other than open source software industry verified.
University of Durham Business School
Van Wendel de Joode, R, JA De Bruijn & MJG Van Eten
2002 - 10
full paper (1.1 MB)
This paper discusses the tensions between open source communities and proprietary software development and identifies a number of innovative regimes that should deal with these tensions.
Delft, University of Technology
Kesan, Jay & Rajiv Shah
2002 - 09
full paper (1.3 MB)
This article addresses how society shapes code. The term "code," as we use it, consists of the hardware and software components of information technologies. Code is increasingly being sought as a regulatory mechanism in conjunction with or as an alternative to law for addressing societal concerns such as crime, privacy, intellectual property protection, and revitalizing democratic discourse. This article analyzes how various societal institutions, that create code differentially, influence the technical and social characteristics of the code that is developed by them. The article also provides recommendations on how society can intervene and proactively shape the development of code to vindicate societal concerns and preferences.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Neff, Gina & David Stark
2002 - 09
Permanently Beta: Responsive Organization in the Internet Era
full paper (147 KB)
How has the process of technological change in the Internet era influenced the way we organize economic activities? In this paper we discuss how information technologies foster the emergent design and user-driven design of websites and other online media, as well as products and organizations offline. A cycle of testing, feedback, and innovation facilitates ongoing negotiations around making products and around organizing that production. We call the organizational state of flux that emerges from these negotiations Permanently Beta. Beta testing, open source software, and interactive communities manifest aspects of permanently beta organization.
Columbia University
Syme, Serena & L. Jean Camp
2002 - 09
The Governance of Code: Open Land vs. UCITA Land
link
Imagine two network societies. In one society, the transfer of information and use of software is governed by the various licenses used to protect open code today. For convenience, we dub this society "Open Land". The other society recently passed a law identical to the new Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act ("UCITA", passed in two U.S. states and pending in several others) to control its information and computer software. We will call this society "UCITA Land". This paper looks at the ways in which Open Land and UCITA Land differ. Although it might initially seem that a licensing framework is trivial in terms of the actual conduct of society, we posit that such frameworks in many ways define the mode of governance of network society. The establishment of a market involves the development of a bundle of rights that both create property and define the rules under which property-based transactions might occur. In Open Land and UCITA Land, fundamentally different approaches to the establishment of those rights lead to vastly different societies.
Harvard University
Tzouris, Menelaos
2002 - 09
Software Freedom, Open Software and the Participant's Motivation - A Multidisciplinary Study
M.Sc. Thesis (786 KB)
The success of Free/Open Source Software has demonstrated the viability and often the dominance of an alternative � almost paradoxical � form of software development. This innovative organisational formation and operation has, recently, been studied intensively. The current paper deals with the issue of participant�s motivation to join and then to operate in a free/open source software development process. However, it does not adopt a single perspective towards reaching a definite answer. On the contrary, building on accumulative research work, it argues that no single perspective is adequate to explain free/open source software participants� motivation, since each perspective provides a rather limited understanding of the issue.
London School of Economics and Political Science
Lecocq, Xavier & Benoit Demil
2002 - 07
Open standard: role of externalities and impact on the industry structure
full paper (138 KB)
Conceding a part of property rights appears counter-intuitive in regards to the Porterian and Resources-Based frameworks. However industrial economics literature and recent examples suggest that this strategy is fruitful to develop network externalities and consequently to impose a standard in network industries. This article explores the role of the sponsor and the impacts of an open property rights strategy on the industry structure. Drawing on the empirical data collected from the U.S. Roleplaying Game industry, our results reveal that: 1) the open approach promoted by a sponsor does not work effectively without network industries specific resources; 2) this strategy induces new entries that benefits to the sponsor; 3) the firms in the industry do not change their technological trajectories except those which are well endowed with resources.
IAE de Lille
Masum, Hasan
2002 - 07
link to paper
Shared opinions drive society: what we read, how we vote, and where we shop are all heavily influenced by the choices of others. However, the cost in time and money to systematically share opinions remains high, while the actual performance history of opinion generators is often not tracked. This article explores the development of a distributed open opinion layer, which is given the generic name of TOOL. Similar to the evolution of network protocols as an underlying layer for many computational tasks, we suggest that TOOL has the potential to become a common substrate upon which many scientific, commercial, and social activities will be based.
Carleton University
Scacchi , Walt
2002 - 07
Open Acquisition: Combining Open Source Software Development with System Acquisition
full paper (2.1 MB)
This study explores and develops concepts leading to the combination of best practices from open source software development (OSSD) projects with emerging capabilities for virtual system acquisition. Virtual system acquisition is an evolving approach to demonstrate significant improvements in reducing the cost and cycle time for acquiring software-intensive systems, while improving their quality. It employs techniques from electronic government applications together with those from OSSD.
University of California, Irvine
Warner, Julian
2002 - 07
Forms of labour in information systems
link
The idea of technology, including information technology, as a human construction is taken as the basis for the themes to be developed. The possibility of constructing an information dynamic, continuous with the dynamic of capitalism, is considered. Differentiations are made between forms of semiotic labour: semantic from syntactic labour and communal from universal labour. Information retrieval systems and the departure from the labour theory of copyright are considered in relation to the forms of labour distinguished. An information dynamic is constructed. The potential and limitations of syntactic labour are considered. The analytic value of the distinctions developed is differentiated from the possible predictive power of the dynamic indicated.
Queen's University, Belfast
Bessen, Jim
2002 - 06
Open Source Software: Free Provision of a Complex Public Good
full paper
Open source software, developed by volunteers, appears counter to conventional wisdom about private provision of public goods. Standard arguments suggest that proprietary provision should be more efficient. But complex open source products challenge commercially-developed software in quality and market share. I argue that the complexity of software changes the results. With complex software, standard products cannot address all consumer needs and proprietary custom solutions are not always offered. Open source allows consumers to create their own customizations. When such user-customizations are then shared, open source products grow in quality and features. Open source extends the market for complex products.
Research on Innovation
Franck, Egon & Carola Jungwirth
2002 - 06
Reconciling investors and donators - The governance structure of open source
full paper (246 KB)
The authors argue that the basic institutional innovation in open source has been the crafting of a governance structure, which enables investment without crowding out donations. The focus of the presented analysis lies on the specific institutional mechanisms, by which the open source governance structure achieves to reconcile the interests of investors and donators.
University of Zurich
Garzarelli, Giampaolo
2002 - 06
Open Source Software and the Economics of Organization
full paper (340 KB)
Open source software development has organizational characteristics that are out of the ordinary. The study suggests that this organization of work can be explained by combining the organizational theory of professions with the one of clubs. The claim is in fact that these organizations are at least as good as firms in sharing rich types of information in real time because (a) constituents have symmetry of absorptive capacity, and (b) software itself is a capital structure embodying knowledge.
Universit� degli Studi di Roma
Lakhani, Karim & von Hippel, Eric
2002 - 06
How Open Source Software Works: Free User to User Assistance
full paper (97.8 KB)
Research into free and open source software development projects has so far largely focused on how the major tasks of software development are organized and motivated. But a complete project requires the execution of "mundane but necessary" tasks as well. In this paper, we explore how the mundane but necessary task of field support is organized in the case of Apache server software, and why some project participants are motivated to provide this service gratis to others. We find that the Apache field support system functions effectively. We also find that, when we partition the help system into its component tasks, 99% of the effort expended by information providers in fact returns direct learning benefits to those providers. This finding considerably reduces the puzzle of why information providers are willing to perform this task "for free." Implications are discussed.
MIT
Madanmohan, T.R. & Siddhesh Navelkar
2002 - 06
Roles and Knowledge Management in Online Technology Communities: An Ethnography Study
full paper (96 KB)
Technical communities are groups who share a common interest in a technology. The literature on technology communities lacks a conceptual understanding of the roles of various players in the online community. An understanding of the different roles the members of the community and the impact of the roles on knowledge management is crucial to manage and sustain such online technical communities. This study based on an ethnographic analysis of two technical communities identifies seven distinct roles. The impact of each of the role on knowledge management activities is discussed.
Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, Digital
Nichols, David M, Kirsten Thomson & Stuart A. Yeates
2002 - 06
Usability and open-source software development
full paper (40 KB)
This paper reports a usability study of the open-source Greenstone Digital Library collection-building software. The problems highlighted by the study are analysed to identify their likely source within the social context of Greenstone's development environment. We discuss how characteristics of open-source software development influence the usability of resulting software products.
University of Waikato, New Zealand.
O'Mahony, Siobhan
2002 - 06
The Emergence of a new commercial actor: community managed software projects (Please contact the author for the dissertation)
PhD Thesis (500KB)
Institutional theory has matured to the point where we know a great deal about how institutions, once formed, are reproduced. We know less about how they are constructed. This study examines how social movements might inspire the creation of new organizing mechanisms. If new organizational forms result from recombination of existing elements, how might challenging and defending groups affect their construction? An inductive, ethnographic approach was used to examine interactions between community managed software projects from the free software and open source social movements (challengers) and established firms in the software industry (defenders). With interviews of seventy contributors and close examination of the practices used by four projects to manage their interactions with firms., I find that both community projects and firms made changes in their practices and form to better collaborate.
Stanford University/Harvard Business School
Osorio-Urzua, Carlos
2002 - 06
full paper (96 KB)
The paper analyzes different variables that affect the dynamics among copyrights, illegal copying and software market creation. There is empirical and analytical evidence supporting three major findings. First, proprietary source companies use illegal copying as a source of market creation in the early stages of development of the market. Second, this strategy has positive effects in the software market in the long-term. Third, in presence of an Open Source alternative, proprietary source companies need to use their illegal user base in order to compete better and this strategy becomes optimal.
MIT, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez
Pedersen, Soren Thing
2002 - 06
Open Source and the Network Society
full paper (232 KB)
This paper discusses how the open source movement can be regarded as a civil society. Through an analysis and discussion of the recent development in society the context and to a certain extent the prerequisites surrounding the open source movement will be presented. The analysis and discussion of the open source movement will both derive advantage from this basis as well as throw new light back on the recent development in society.
University of Aarhus, Denmark
Scacchi , Walt
2002 - 06
Open EC/B: A Case Study in Electronic Commerce and Open Source Software Development
full paper (3.1 MB)
This study investigates how to understand and transform an organizational system for internal or external operations using Open Source E-Commerce or E-Business capabilities. The objective is to identify and characterize the organizational resources and development capabilities that lie at the center of the initiative.
University of California, Irvine
von Hippel, Eric
2002 - 06
Horizontal innovation networks- by and for users
full paper (371 KB)
Innovation development, production, distribution and consumption networks can be built up horizontally with actors consisting only of innovation users. User innovation networks can function entirely independently of manufacturers when (1) at least some users have sufficient incentive to innovate, (2) at least some users have an incentive to voluntarily reveal their innovations, and (3) diffusion of innovations by users is low cost and can compete with commercial production and distribution. In this paper we explore the empirical evidence related to each of these matters and conclude that conditions favorable to user innovation networks are often present in the economy.
MIT
Krishnamurthy, Sandeep
2002 - 05
Cave or Community? An Empirical Examination of 100 Mature Open Source Projects
full paper (96 KB)
The author conducts an empirical study of the top 100 mature projects on SourceForge.net to develop an understanding of the F/OSS community. The author sought empirical evidence that would help us understand which is more common- the cave (i.e., lone producer) or the community in F/OSS development. Some key findings include: first, most F/OSS programs are developed by individuals, rather than communities. Second, most OSS programs do not generate a lot of discussion. Third, products with more developers tend to be viewed and downloaded more often. Fourth, the number of developers associated with a project is unrelated to the age of the project.
University of Washington
Morgan, Jason V.
2002 - 05
Open Source Software and Software Patents: Finding the Common Ground in a Patent Pool
B.Sc. Thesis (229 KB)
Software patents threaten the future of the OSS community, especially with the increased importance of software standards and the change in attitude in the organizations forming these standards. The OSS community does not exercise much influence over the policymakers who have legitimized software patents because of differences between the two groups' motivations. There are many possible actions the OSS community could take, but an OSS patent pool is the best way for the OSS community to leverage both the patent system and the OSS culture to help protect the future of OSS.
University of Utah School of Computing
Orlikowski, Wanda
2002 - 05
Knowing in Practice: Enacting a Collective Capability in Distributed Organizing>
full paper (134 KB)
The author outlines a perspective on knowing in practice which highlights the essential role of human action in knowing how to get things done in complex organizational work. The perspective suggests that knowing is not a static, embedded capability or stable disposition of actors, but rather an ongoing social accomplishment, constituted and reconstituted as actors engage the world in practice. In interpreting the findings of an empirical study conducted in a geographically-dispersed high-tech organization, the author suggests that the competence to do global product development is both collective and distributed, grounded in the everyday practices of organizational members.
MIT
Reddy, Bernard & David S. Evans
2002 - 04
Government Preferences for Promoting Open-Source Software: A Solution in Search of a Problem
link to full paper
Governments around the world are making or considering efforts to promote open-source software at he expense of proprietary software. This article examines the economic basis for these kinds of government interventions in the market. The article discusses the industrial organization and performance of the proprietary software business and describes how the open-source movement produces and distributes software. It then surveys current government proposals and initiatives to support open-source software and examines whether there is a significant market failure that would justify such intervention in the software industry. The article concludes that there is no evidence of any significant market failures in the provision of commercial software and no evidence that the establishment of policy preferences in favor of open-source software on the part of governments would increase consumer welfare.
NERA Economic Consulitng
von Hippel, Eric & Georg von Krogh
2002 - 04
Exploring the Open Source Software Phenomenon: Issues for Organization Science
full paper (152 KB)
Currently two models of innovation are prevalent in organization science. The "private investment" model assumes returns to the innovator results from private goods and efficient regimes of intellectual property protection. The "collective action" model assumes that under conditions of market failure, innovators collaborate in order to produce a public good. In this paper we propose that open source software development is an exemplar of a compound model of innovation that contains elements of both the private investment and the collective action models. We describe a new set of research questions this model raises for scholars in organization science.
MIT, University of St. Gallen
Gonz�lez-Barahona, Jes�s M., Miguel A. Ortu�o P�rez, Pedro de las Heras Quir�s, Jos� Centeno Gonz�lez & Vicente Matell�n Olivera
2002 - 03
Counting potatoes: The size of Debian 2.2
full paper (HTML)
Debian is possibly the largest free software distribution, with well over 2,800 source packages in the latest stable release (Debian 2.2) and more than 4,000 source packages in the release currently in preparation. But, how large is "the largest"? We show that Debian 2.2 includes more than 55,000,000 physical SLOC (almost twice than Red Hat 7.1, released about 8 months later), showing that the Debian development model (based on the work of a large group of voluntary developers spread around the world) is at least as capable as other development methods (like the more centralized one) to manage distributions of this size. It is also shown that if Debian had been developed using traditional proprietary methods, that its cost would be close to $1.9 billion. In addition, we offer both an analysis of the programming languages used in the distribution.
Debian
Butler, Brian, Lee Sproull, Sara Kiesler & Robert Kraut
2002 - 02
Community Effort in Online Groups? Who Does the Work and Why?
full paper (122 K)
In this paper, the authors consider how the formal leadership role, personal and community benefits, and community characteristics influence the effort members put into helping their online groups. Results from a survey of Internet listserv owners and other members suggest that though owners, who have a formal leadership role, do more of the effortful community building work than do regular members, other members also take on some of the work. Moreover, members who value different benefits are likely to contribute to the development on an online community in different ways.
University of Pittsburg, New York University, CMU
Maggioni, Mario
2002 - 02
Open Source Software Communities and Industrial Districts: A Useful Comparison?
full paper (255 KB)
Aim of this paper is to add a new and complementary perspective on the existing economic analysis of open-source software by comparing the structure and evolution of open-source software communities and of industrial districts, a peculiar organisational form of production based on a large number of interacting small and medium sized enterprises. The comparison between open-source software communities and industrial districts, in spite of some major differences allows the recognition of the role played by agglomeration economies, an explicit analysis of the incentives structure - governing the private provision of complex public goods-, and an in depth study of the governance structure and evolution of these phenomena. The paper presents some simple simulations which show the dependence of the governance structure's evolution on transaction costs dynamics.
Universit� Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
Reis, Christian Robottom & Renata Pontin de Mattos Fortes
2002 - 02
An Overview of the Software Engineering Process and Tools in the Mozilla Project
full paper (711 KB)
The Mozilla Project is an Open Source Software project which is dedicated to development of the Mozilla Web browser and application framework. Possessing one of the largest and most complex communities of developers among Open Source projects, it presents interesting requirements for a software process and the tools to support it. Over the past four years, process and tools have been refined to a point where they are both stable and effective in serving the project�s needs. This paper describes the software engineering aspect of a large Open Source project. It also covers the software engineering tools used in the Mozilla Project, since theMozilla process and tools are intimately related. These tools include Bugzilla, a Web application designed for bug tracking, bug triage, code review and correction; Tinderbox, an automated build and regression testing system; Bonsai, a tool which performs queries to the CVS code repository; and LXR, a hypertext-based source code browser.
Async Software, University of S�o Paulo
Crowston, Kevin & Barbara Scozzi
2002 - 01
Open Source Software Projects as Virtual Organizations: Competency Rallying for Software Development
abstract only
The contribution of this paper is the identification and testing of factors important for the success of Open Source Software (OSS) projects. We present an analysis of OSS communities as virtual organizations and apply Katzy and Crowston�s (2000) competency rallying (CR) theory to the case of OSS development projects. CR theory suggests that project participants must develop necessary competencies, identify and understand market opportunities, marshal competencies to meet the opportunity and manage a short-term cooperative process. Using data collected from 7477 OSS projects hosted by the SourceForge system (http://sourceforge.net/), we formulate and test a set of specific hypotheses derived from CR theory.
Syracuse University, Politecnico di Bari
Dalle, Jean-Michael and Jullien, Nicolas
2002 - 01
Open-Source vs. Proprietary Software
full paper (92 KB)
The article studies technological competition between open-source and proprietary software using a model from interaction theory. We argue that the organizational structure of open-source software, allowed by openness of source codes and by the subsequent development of dedicated communities, is a key feature which, together with compatibility, can allow open-source software to overcome existing proprietary standards.
ENS-Cachan & ENST-Bretagne
Garud, Raghu, Sanjay Jain & Arun Kumaraswamy
2002 - 01
full paper (398 KB)
Institutional entrepreneurship implicit in a firm's sponsorship of its technology as a common standard is beset by several challenges. These challenges arise from a standard's property to enable and constrain even as potential competitors agree to cooperate on its creation. Our exploration of Sun Microsystems's sponsorship of its Java technology suggests that standards-in-the-making generate seeds of self-destruction. Our study also identifies the social and political skills that a sponsor deploys to address these challenges.
NYU, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Rutgers
Pal, Nilendu & T.R. Madanmohan
2002 - 01
Competing on Open Source: Strategies and Practise
full paper (200 K)
This paper seeks to address the following issues: How do firms compete with open source? What resources become critical in managing their growth? What strategies do they adopt to co-exist with dominant proprietary software firms? How do they interface with communities of practice to exploit network externalities? What strategies do they adopt to lock-in developers? Based on a multiple case analysis the authors seek to draw initial conclusions about the key strategic aspects that underlie the open source initiatives. Finally they describe how for-profit firms can establish and sustain open source practice.
Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore
Pope, William
2001 -06
The Use of Computer Conferencing as an Organizational Knowledge Transfer
dissertation (796 KB)
Electronic bulletin boards were used as an organization-wide problem solving process that transferred private knowledge. Key organizational implications were found.
Kelty, Chris
2001 - 12
full paper (link)
This paper explores the comparison often made between Free Software and scientific research, and the tendency to discuss both endeavors by positing a role for reputation as the currency of value. It discusses a handful of examples from the history and social study of science to explain how scholars have approached similar issues in understanding scientific activity. It also offers some speculations on the relationship between the metaphorical currency of reputation and real money, and that between metaphorical and actual intellectual property.
Rice University
Lancahire, David
2001 - 12
Code, Culture and Cash: The Fading Altruism of Open Source Development
full paper (link)
The nexus of open source development appears to have shifted to Europe over the last ten years. This paper explains why this trend undermines cultural arguments about "hacker ethics" and "post-scarcity" gift economies. It suggests that classical economic theory offers a more succinct explanation for the peculiar international distribution of open source development: hacking rises and falls inversely to its opportunity cost. This finding throws doubt on the Schumpeterian assumption that the efficiency of industrial systems can be measured without reference to the social institutions that bind them.
UC Berkeley
Scacchi, Walt
2001 - 12
Understanding the Requirements for Developing Open Source Software Systems
full paper (646 KB)
This study presents findings from an empirical study of socio-technical processes and practices that give rise to open software. Four open software development communities are examined. Eight kinds of software informalisms are found to play a critical role in the requirements for developing open software systems. Subsequently, understanding the roles these software informalisms take in developing the requirements for open source software is the focus of this study.
UC Irvine
Neus, Andreas
2001 - 11
Managing Information Quality in Virtual Communities of Practice
full paper (174 KB)
In this paper we review how the new economics of information enable a new paradigm of collaboration. Spearheaded by the Open Source community, this evolutionary approach to collaborative content creation is a way to address information quality in virtual communities of practice. Based on experience gained in community projects, a few simple steps toward improving the quality of information in virtual communities are presented and illustrated.
IBM Unternehmensberatung GmbH
Faraj, Samer and Molly McLure Wasko
2001 - 10
The Web of Knowledge: An Investigation of Knowledge Exchange in Networks of Practice
full paper (107 KB)
Electronic ties are loosening the constraints of organizational structure and physical proximity to allow connectivity between individuals who would otherwise find it difficult to identify and sustain contact with others who share the similar interests. This paper explores the knowledge exchange processes in extra-organizational networks of practice by studying three technical newsgroups. We argue that the development of relational social capital is a vital component for transforming electronic posting forums into ongoing networks of practice. The results reveal that relational social capital exists on networks of practice and shows a strong relationship with knowledge exchange processes over and above the influence of individual motivation and ability.
University of Maryland, Florida State University
Dafermos, George
2001 - 09
Management and Virtual Decentralized Networks: The Linux Project
M. A. Thesis
This paper examines whether geographically dispersed knowledge workers can virtually collaborate for a project under no central planning. Co-ordination, management and the role of knowledge arise as the central areas of focus. The Linux Project and its development model are selected as a case of analysis and the critical success factors of this organizational design are identified. The study proceeds to the formulation of a framework that can be applied to all kinds of virtual decentralized work and concludes that value creation is maximized when there is intense interaction and uninhibited sharing of information between the organization and the surrounding community.
Durham Business School
Wendel de Joode, Ruben van & Jeroen Kemp
2001 - 09
abstract (28 KB)
This article will focus on how the strategy-finding task is performed within virtual organisations in general and in the open source community of Linux in particular. This article will demonstrate that one of the reasons for the success of Linux is the way the strategic finding task is fulfilled in this community.The point to be shown in this paper is the self-organising power and apparent success of emergent ('bottom up') strategy finding processes within the Linux community, ensuring the interaction between change trajectories of both its internal resources and external threats and weaknesses. It will be shown that a number of mechanisms have institutionalised this interaction in the community.
Delft-University of Technology, Fraunhofer IAO
Franke, Nik and Sonali Shah
2001 - 08
full paper (191 KB)
This exploratory study finds that end-user innovators who are members of voluntary sports communities often receive assistance in developing their sports-equipment innovations from fellow community members. Innovation-related information and assistance, as well as the innovations themselves, are freely within these communities. The processes by which these communities operate may be of general interest both within and beyond the consumer product arena; for example, communities of open source software developers appear to operate in similar ways.
Vienna University, MIT
Mateos Garcia, Juan
2001 - 08
full paper (402 KB)
This dissertation analyses two different paradigms used for the development of a operating systems by Microsoft Corporation and the Linux Community. Through the observation of the strategies and methodologies used by these actors in their work, and taking into account the constraints to which they are subject, assesses, from a dynamic perspective, the relative strengths and weaknesses of their competing paradigms. A theoretical model based on Giovanni Dosi�s "Technological Paradigms" framework, incorporating institutional, industrial, social and cultural aspects, is constructed and specifically adapted to the software industry case. The private management of technology issues considered during the analysis of the development processes inside different organisations are linked to questions having to do with the evolution of high technology, networked, markets.
University of Sussex
Aigrain, Philippe
2001 - 07
Positive Intellectual Rights and Information Exchanges
full paper (48 KB)
This paper proposes a reversal in how to consider the rights associated with information, media contents, software and other intellectual entities. The proposed approach sets as its basis a number of positive intellectual rights, defined as to enable wide societal production and exchange of intellectual entities. It then defines how granting of specific attributes of property is necessary as to ensure that the positive rights are not abused to the detriment of some basic values, and are implemented in reality. Such a reversal allows to exploit the benefits of information and communication technology. More generally, it debates right issues for the technology of the intangible.
European Commission, Information Society DG
Edwards, Kasper
2001 - 07
Epistemic Communities, Situated Learning and Open Source Software
full paper (99 KB)
This paper analyzes open source software development as an epistemic community where each individual open source software project is perceived as a single epistemic community. Open source software development is a learning process where the involved parties contribute to, and learn from, the community. It is discovered that theory of epistemic communities does indeed contribute to the understanding of open source software development.
Technical University of Denmark
West, Joel & Jason Dedrick
2001 - 06
Open Source Standardization: The Rise of Linux in the Network Era
abstract - contact author
To attract complementary assets, firms that sponsor proprietary de facto compatibility standards must trade off control of the standard against the imperative for adoption. For example, Microsoft and Intel in turn gained pervasive adoption of their technologies by appropriating only a single layer of the standards architecture and encouraging competition in other layers. In reaction to such proprietary strategies, the open source movement relinquished control to maximize adoption. To illustrate this, we examine the rise of the Linux operating system from 1995-2001, particularly the motivations of organizational buyers and suppliers of complementary assets, and Microsoft�s reaction to its success.
UC - Irvine
Jordan, John
2001 - 05
M. A.Sc. Thesis (987 KB)
This paper derives a framework for the emergence of a dominant design in the web server market. Particular attention is given to factors important in network-based economies including network effects, standards, complimentary assets and technological change. A complete examination of the web server industry from its origins in the Internet through to today's market dominated by the products of open-source and proprietary software provides interesting insights into the application of the emergence framework.
University of Waterloo (Alcatel)
von Hippel, Eric
2001 - 03
Open Source Shows the Way - Innovation By and For Users - No Manufacturer Required
full paper (33 KB)
Open source software projects are complete innovation development and consumption communities run by and for users, no manufacturer required. This essay points out that user innovation communities have existed long before and extend far beyond open source software. The example of user innovation communities as the developers of new sports, sporting techniques, and new sporting equipment is described.
MIT
Kogut, Bruce & Anca Metiu
2001 - 02
Distributed Knowledge and the Global Organization of Software Development
full paper (94 KB)
Open-source software development is a production model that exploits the distributed intelligence of participants in Internet communities. This model is efficient because of two related reasons: it avoids the inefficiencies of a strong intellectual property regime and it implements concurrently design and testing of software modules. The hazard of open source is that projects can �fork� into competing versions. However, open-source communities consist of governance structures that constitutionally minimize this danger. Because open source works in a distributed environment, it presents an opportunity for developing coun-tries to participate in frontier innovation.
Wharton, INSEAD
Dalle, Jean-Michael and Jullien, Nicolas
2001 - 01
'Libre' Software: Turning Fads Into Institutions
full paper (318 KB)
This paper presents an economic analysis of Libre software and of its sustainability as an economic model. We underline the role of Libre software development communities and analyze incentives of both kernel and obscure developers. We especially emphasize the role of the so-called 'public' licenses to provide an appropriate institutional framework.
ENS-Cachan & ENST-Bretagne
McLaughlin, David
2001 - 01
Opening The Code: Software Excellence As A Function Of Its Development Environment
MA Thesis (600 KB)
Software is an increasingly important component of the modern world; indeed, software forms the architecture around which today�s digital society is built. Because of the complex interrelationship between computer code, liberty, and the distribution of power in society, the environment in which code is produced makes a tremendous difference in the resulting structure of the world. An "Open" foundation for software development provides a variety of economic and societal benefits, but there are a number of preconditions necessary for its full deployment. One of the primary stumbling blocks is the need for the Open development process to demonstrate its capacity for producing "excellent" software. This thesis tackles that obstacle by first defining excellence in software, and then examining the software ecosystems that surround proprietary and Open Source conceptions of digital property in terms of their incentive structures--incentives that either encourage or discourage quality. Herein, this thesis demonstrates that not only can an Open Source development model produce quality software, but it also takes advantage of the complex adaptive systems model of diversity and adaptation to better meet the established criteria of an "ideal" software development system.
Georgetown University
Zhang, Wei & John Storck
2001 - 00
Peripheral Members in Online Communities
full paper (61 KB)
Organizations are exploring the role communities play in knowledge management and online communities are attracting more and more attentions. One difference between online communities and conventional communities lies in the large number of peripheral members in online communities, which is the focus of the study. The study empirically verifies the important role peripheral members play in online communities. It also suggests that in addition to benefiting from online communities, peripheral members also contribute to online communities.
Boston University
Johnson, Justin Pappas
2000 - 12
Economics of Open Source Software
full paper (229 KB)
A simple model of open source software is presented. Individual user-programmers decide whether to invest their valuable time and effort to develop a software application that will become a public good if so developed. The benefits and drawbacks of open source versus profit driven developments are presented. The effect of changing the population size of user-programmers is considered; finite and asymptotic results (relevant for some of the larger projects that exist) are given.
Cornell University
Khalak, Asif
2000 - 11
Economic Model for Impact of Open Source Software
full paper (152 KB)
This paper presents an economic model of the impact of Open Source Software (OSS) upon a commercial software market. Agents are used to model the users (buyers), the companies (sellers), the code bank (marketplace), and the OSS community (source of free goods). The effect of introducing open source products into an equilibrium commercial market is investigated with respect to demand structure.
MIT
Moon, JY & Sproull, Lee
2000 - 11
Essence of Distributed Work: The Case of the Linux Kernel
full paper (full paper)
This paper provides a historical account of how the Linux operating system kernel was developed from three different perspectives. Each focuses on different critical factors in its success at the individual, group, and community levels. The paper concludes by summarizing the factors important in the successful distributed development of the Linux kernel, and the implications for organizationally managed distributed work arrangements.
NYU
Shah, Sonali
2000 - 11
Sources and Patterns of Innovation in a Consumer Products Field: Innovations in Sporting Equipment
full paper (138 KB)
This study investigates the innovation histories of 57 important skateboarding, snowboarding, and windsurfing equipment innovations. Contrary to conventional wisdom, equipment for these new sports was not developed by existing sports equipment manufacturing companies. Innovations were instead developed by a few early and active participants in the new sports - users who built innovative equipment for themselves, their friends, and often built businesses focused on producing such equipment in order to appropriate benefit from their innovations and establish a lifestyle around the sport.
MIT
Tuomi, Ilkka
2000 - 11
Internet Innovation and Open Source: Actors in the Network
full paper
The paper analyzes the growth and development of the Linux community and demonstrates how it evolves into an ecology of community-centered practices.
Nokia Research Center / SITRA
Kuan, Jenny
2000 - 10
Open Source Software As Consumer Integration Into Production
full paper (1.57 MB)
The author proposes a model of consumer integration into production as means of understanding the Open Source software phenomenon.
UC Berkeley
Lee, Gwendolyn & Cole, Robert
2000 - 10
The Linux Kernel Development As a Model of Knowledge Creation
abstract (4.66 KB)
Applying the method of induction theory building, the authors have developed a case study based on the Linux kernel development process to build a model of Open Source knowledge creation.
UC Berkeley
Harhoff, Dietmar, J. Henkel & E. von Hippel
2000 - 07
full paper (125 KB)
Software users reveal the code they have written to other users for free. This behavior is contrary to conventional wisdom in economics - but is essential to the functioning of an effective user innovation community. This paper explores conditions under which the free revealing of innovations (code, in the case of OS) pays for innovating users.
University of Munich, CEPR, MIT
Mockus, Audris & Roy T. Fielding & James Herbsleb
2000 - 06
A Case Study of Open Source Software Development: The Apache Server
full paper ((253 KB)
According to its proponents, open source style software development has the capacity to compete successfully, and perhaps in many cases displace, traditional commercial development methods.We examine the development process of a major open source application, the Apache web server. By using email archives of source code change history and problem reports we quantify aspects of developer participation, core team size, code ownership, productivity, defect density, and problem resolution interval for this OSS project. This analysis reveals a unique process, which performs well on important measures.
Bell Labs, UC Irvivne, Bell Labs
Weber, Steven
2000 - 06
The Political Economy of Open Source
full paper
The paper describes the open source process and characterizes more fully the economic, technological, and social systems that together constitute this distinct mode of production. The paper explains the open source process, by answering three questions about individual motivations, coordination, and complexity using a compoud argument of microfoundations, economic logic, and social/political structure.
UC Berkeley
Lerner, Josh & Triole, Jean
2000 - 03
The Simple Economics of Open Source
full paper (287 KB)
This paper makes a preliminary exploration of the economics of open source software. The authors highlight the extent to which labor economics, especially the literature of career concerns can explain many of these project features.
NBER
Koch, Stefan & Schneider, Georg
2000
Results From Software Engineering Research Into Open Source Development Projects Using Public Data
full paper (417 KB)
This paper presents first results from research into open source projects from a software engineering perspective. The research methodology employed relies on public data retrieved from the CVS-repository of the GNOME project and relevant discussion groups. This methodology is described in detail and some of the results concerning the special characteristics of open source software development are given.
Vienna University of Economics and BA
Kelty, Christopher
1999 - 12
Scale and Convention: Programmed Languages in a Regulated America
Ph.D. thesis
This thesis is a combination of an ethnography of an internet healthcare startup company and a philosophical investigation of technical standards, open and closed. Chapters K, L, and M are introductions to three main figures in the Open Source movement between 1998-2000 -- Richard Stallman, Lawrence Lessig, and Eric Raymond.
MIT
Garud, Raghu & Arun Kumaraswamy
1993 -00
abstract (26 KB)
An integral part of competition is to deny rivals access to proprietary technical knowledge. Yet, SUN Microsystems provides rivals with easy access to its technical knowledge and encourages them to enter its workstation market. This paper employs theoretical insights on technological systems and network externalities to understand SUN's open systems strategy. The paper also explores the changing nature of competition in network industries.
NYU, Rutgers