Study II: The Social Capital Effect on Value Contribution—Revealing Differences between Voluntary and Firm-Sponsored Open Source Software Developers

When the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak began on January 31, 2020, no-one could have anticipated the impact that it would have on our scholarly communication and publishing systems. That is, perhaps, unless you work on open source software. Right now, global research communities are united to collaborate on solving the threat of the pandemic, sharing resources and knowledge more efficiently and effective than ever before, a process broadly described as ‘open scholarship’ (Dunleavy, 2020). This is essentially akin to how free and open source software (FOSS) communities have been operating now for decades (Willinsky, 2005). Recently, we participated in a “massively open online paper”, or MOOP, that explored the intersections between FOSS and open scholarship (Tennant, Agarwal, et al., 2020). Here, we want to summarise our key findings from that project, and place them in the context of the current outbreak. Critically, this pandemic shows us that many of the pervasive and systemic issues surrounding the evaluation, valuation, use and operationalisation of “openness” in scholarship can be extremely easily bypassed when the social demand and urgency is there, thus showing that the primary barriers towards open scholarship are inherently political and not technical.

Download Full-text

The Social Order of Open Source Software Production

Handbook of Research on Open Source Software ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-999-1.ch014 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 168-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jochen Gläser

Keyword(s):

Open Source ◽

Open Source Software ◽

Subject Matter ◽

Social Order ◽

Production Systems ◽

Social Mechanism ◽

Complete Uncertainty ◽

Software Production ◽

The Social ◽

Collective Production

This chapter contributes to the sociological understanding of open source software (OSS) production by identifying the social mechanism that creates social order in OSS communities. OSS communities are identified as production communities whose mode of production employs autonomous decentralized decision making on contributions and autonomous production of contributions while maintaining the necessary order by adjustment to the common subject matter of work. Thus, OSS communities belong to the same type of collective production system as scientific communities. Both consist of members who not only work on a common product, but are also aware of this collective work and adjust their actions accordingly. Membership is based on the self-perception of working with the community’s subject matter (software or respectively scientific knowledge). The major differences between the two are due to the different subject matters of work. Production communities are compared to the previously known collective production systems, namely, markets, organizations, and networks. They have a competitive advantage in the production under complete uncertainty, that is, when neither the nature of a problem, nor the way in which it can be solved, nor the skills required for its solution are known in advance.

Download Full-text

The Impact of Open Source Development on the Social Construction of Intellectual Property

Global Information Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-939-7.ch266 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 3777-3805

Author(s):

Bernd Carsten Stahl

Keyword(s):

Intellectual Property ◽

Social Construction ◽

Open Source ◽

Open Source Software ◽

Natural Rights ◽

The Social ◽

Software Changes ◽

Information And Communication ◽

The Impact ◽

Open Source Development

This chapter discusses the impact that open source software has on our perception and use of intellectual property. The theoretical foundation of the paper is constructionist in that it holds intellectual property to be a social construction that is created and legitimized by narratives. In a first step, the chapter recounts the narratives that are usually found in the literature to justify the creation and protection of intellectual property. The two most important streams of narratives are the utilitarian and the natural rights arguments. In a second step, the paper proceeds to the impact that the use of information and communication technology (ICT) has on the narratives of intellectual property. From there, the chapter progresses to a discussion of the impact of open source software on these narratives. It will be argued that open source software changes our perception of intellectual property because it offers evidence that some of the classical narratives are simplistic. At the same time it will become clear that open source is not a frontal assault on intellectual property because it is partly based on ownership of intellectual artefacts. The conclusion discusses how this change of narratives caused by open source software may reflect on our institutions, laws, and regulations of intellectual property.

Download Full-text

Evidence-Based Assurance to Support Process Quality in the F/OSS Community

Emerging Free and Open Source Software Practices ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-210-7.ch006 ◽

2007 ◽

pp. 120-146

Author(s):

Anas Tawileh ◽

Omer F. Rana ◽

Wendy Ivins ◽

Stephen McIntosh

Keyword(s):

Quality Assurance ◽

Open Source ◽

Open Source Software ◽

Growth Rates ◽

Development Process ◽

End Users ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Software Developers ◽

Substantial Growth ◽

Development Processes

This chapter investigates the quality issues of the free and open source software (F/OSS) development processes. It argues that software developed within the F/OSS paradigm has witnessed substantial growth rates within the software developers’ community. However, end users from outside the community are still sceptical about adopting F/OSS because of the perceived lack of quality assurance mechanisms within the F/OSS development process. The authors aim to promote higher adoption of F/OSS artefacts outside the developers’ community by exploring possibilities to provide appropriate evidence based assurances that F/OSS artefacts will meet the quality levels expected by users.

Download Full-text