scholarly journals Trust and Community in Open Source Software Production

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Margit Osterloh ◽  
Sandra Rota
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Extrinsic Motivation ◽  
Source Model ◽  
Private Ownership ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Software Production ◽  
Innovation Model ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Low Costs

AbstractOpen source software production is a successful new innovation model which disproves that only private ownership of intellectual property rights fosters innovations. It is analyzed here under which conditions the open source model may be successful in general. We show that a complex interplay of situational, motivational, and institutional factors have to be taken into account to understand how to manage the ‘tragedy of the commons’ as well as the ‘tragedy of the anticommons’. It is argued that the success of this new innovation model is greatly facilitated by a well balanced portfolio of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, low costs for contributors and governance mechanisms that do not crowd out intrinsic motivation.

Developers, Quality Control and Download Volume in Open Source Software (OSS) Projects

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-66
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Hill ◽  
Pratim Datta ◽  
Candice Vander Weerdt
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Inflection Point ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Tragedy Of The Commons ◽  
Curvilinear Relationship ◽  
Segmented Regression ◽  
The Commons

The open-source software (OSS) movement is often analogized as a commons, where products are developed by and consumed in an open community. However, does a larger commons automatically beget success or does the phenomenon fall prey to the tragedy of the commons? This research forwards and empirically investigates the curvilinear relationship between developers and OSS project quality and a project's download volume. Using segmented regression on over 12,000 SourceForge OSS projects, findings suggest an inflection point in the number of contributing developers on download volume – suggesting increasing and diminishing returns to scale from adding developers to OSS projects. Findings support the economic principle of the tragedy of the commons, a concept where an over-allocated (large number) of developers, even in an open-source environment, can lead to resource mismanagement and reduce the benefit of a public good, i.e. the OSS project.

scholarly journals The Social Order of Open Source Software Production

2011 ◽  
pp. 168-182 ◽  
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.

Adoption and Use of Open Source Infrastructure Software by Large Corporations

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
RadhaKanta Mahapatra ◽  
Rashid Manzar ◽  
Vikram S. Bhadauria
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Source Model ◽  
Early Adopter ◽  
Business Organizations ◽  
Adoption Decision ◽  
Software Adoption ◽  
Continued Use ◽  
Large Corporations ◽  
Proprietary Product

Adoption and continuance of use of open source infrastructure software by large business organizations is not well understood. This study fills this gap in research by conducting a longitudinal investigation of the adoption and use of MySQL by two large corporations. One organization, an early adopter, adopted and used MySQL for several years before reverting back to a proprietary product. The other, a late adopter, made an initial adoption decision but didn't deploy it in mission critical applications. Interestingly, free software and freedom to access and modify the source code, the hallmark of the open source model, were not found to be significant in promoting adoption. In contrast, high quality maintenance support and timely product enhancement to keep up with user needs were considered critical for initial adoption and continued use of software. The study also demonstrates the need to investigate continuance of use to get a complete picture of open source software adoption and use by organizations.

Embedded Real-Time Linux for Cable Robot Control

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Proctor ◽  
William P. Shackleford
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Source Model ◽  
Disk Drives ◽  
Deterministic Scheduling ◽  
Cable Robot ◽  
Real Time Computing ◽  
Embedded Applications

Linux is a version of the Unix operating system distributed according to the open source model. Programmers are free to adapt the source code for their purposes, but are required to make their modifications or enhancements available as open source software as well. This model has fostered the widespread adoption of Linux for typical Unix server and workstation roles, and also in more arcane applications such as embedded or real-time computing. Embedded applications typically run in small physical and computing footprints, usually without fragile peripherals like hard disk drives. Special configurations are required to support these limited environments. Real-time applications require guarantees that tasks will execute within their deadlines, something not possible in general with the normal Linux scheduler. Real-time extensions to Linux enable deterministic scheduling, at task periods at tens of microseconds. This paper describes embedded and real-time Linux, and an application for distributed control of a Stewart Platform cable robot. Special Linux configuration requirements are detailed, and the architecture for teleoperated control of the cable robot is presented, with emphasis on the resolved-rate control of the suspended platform.

The Role of Open Source Software in Mastering Technologies of an Information System and Its Implication to Technology Transfer

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 58-78
Author(s):  
Niguissie Mengesha
Keyword(s):  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Software Production ◽  
Knowledge Circulation ◽  
Networks Of Practice

The philosophy and practice of open source software (OSS) affected not only software production but also implementation and use. However, little is known about the intricacies of implementation and use of domain-specific, frontend information systems compared to production. Especially, empirical studies that examine the learning mechanisms in OSS implementation in developing countries are scant. This paper fills the gap by investigating the implementation of an OSS in a resource-constrained setting. Drawing upon communities of practice and networks of practice theories, the paper examines the mechanisms of the OSS approach that enable knowledge circulation, technology transfer, innovation, and sustainability, and interrogates the technology transfer conceptualization in the light of the approach. It also highlights the measures practitioners and policymakers should take to benefit from OSS.

scholarly journals Why Open Source?: Exploring the Motivations of Using an Open Model for Hardware Development

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuoxuan Li ◽  
Warren Seering ◽  
Joshua David Ramos ◽  
Maria Yang ◽  
David Robert Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Extrinsic Motivation ◽  
Source Model ◽  
Open Model ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Hardware Development ◽  
Design Paradigm ◽  
Source Models ◽  
Open Source Hardware ◽  
A Company

Following the successful adoption of the open source model in the software realm, open source is becoming a new design paradigm in hardware development. Open source models for tangible products are still in its infancy, and many studies are required to demonstrate its application to for-profit product development. It is an alluring question why entrepreneurs decide to use an open model to develop their products under risks and unknowns, such as infringement and community management. The goal of this paper is to investigate the motivations of entrepreneurs of open source hardware companies. The leaders and founders of twenty-three companies were interviewed to understand their motivation and experiences in creating a company based on open source hardware. Based on these interviews, we generated a hierarchical framework to explain these motivations, where each level of the framework has been defined, explained and illustrated with representative quotes. The motivations of open source action are framed by two categories in the paper: 1) Intrinsic Motivation, which describes the motivations of an entrepreneur as an individual, who needs personal satisfaction, enjoyment as well as altruism and reciprocity; 2) Extrinsic Motivation, which describes motivations of an entrepreneur whose identity is as a for-profit company leader.

Intellectual Property Rights in Open Source Software Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 285-290
Author(s):  
Chitu Okoli ◽  
Kevin Carillo
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Source Model ◽  
Software Projects ◽  
Software Development Model

Intellectual property is an old concept, with the first recorded instances of patents (1449) and copyrights (1662) both occurring in England (“Intellectual property”, Wikipedia, 2004). The first piece of software was submitted for copyright to the United States Copyright Office in 1961, and was accepted as copyrightable under existing copyright law (Hollaar, 2002). The open source movement has relied upon controversial intellectual property rights that are rooted in the overall history of software development (Lerner & Tirole, 2002; von Hippel & von Krogh, 2003). By defining specific legal mechanisms and designing various software licenses, the open source phenomenon has successfully proposed an alternative software development model whose approach to the concept of intellectual property is quite different from that taken by traditional proprietary software. A separate article in this encyclopedia treats open source software communities in general as a type of virtual community. This article takes a historical approach to examining how the intellectual property rights that have protected free/open source software have contributed towards the formation and evolution of virtual communities whose central focus is software projects based on the open source model.

Moving the crowd at iStockphoto: The composition of the crowd and motivations for participation in a crowdsourcing application

First Monday ◽  
2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daren C. Brabham
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Production Model ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Wisdom Of Crowds ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Software Production ◽  
Distributed Problem Solving

Crowdsourcing is an online, distributed problem solving and production model already in use by for-profit organizations such as Threadless, iStockphoto, and InnoCentive. Speculation in Weblogs and wisdom of crowds theory assumes a diverse crowd engaged in crowdsourcing labor. Furthermore, and as crowdsourcing is in some ways similar to open source software production, prior research suggests that individuals in the crowd likely participate in crowdsourcing ventures to gain peer recognition and to develop creative skills. The present study tests these assumptions in the crowdsourcing community at iStockphoto. An online survey obtained 651 responses from iStockers to demographic and motivations questions. Results indicate that the desire to make money, develop individual skills, and to have fun were the strongest motivators for participation at iStockphoto, and that the crowd at iStockphoto is quite homogenous and elite. These data have implications for future research into crowdsourcing, particularly regarding notions of professionalism and investment in online communities.

‘Patches don’t have gender’: What is not open in open source software

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 669-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Nafus
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Gift Exchange ◽  
Everyday Practice ◽  
Gift Economy ◽  
Software Production ◽  
The Social

While open source software development promises a fairer, more democratic model of software production often compared to a gift economy, it also is far more male dominated than other forms of software production. The specific ways F/LOSS instantiates notions of openness in everyday practice exacerbates the exclusion of women. ‘Openness’ is a complex construct that affects more than intellectual property arrangements. It weaves together ideas about authorship, agency, and the circumstances under which knowledge and code can and cannot be exchanged. While open source developers believe technology is orthogonal to the social, notions of openness tie the social to the technical by separating persons from one another and relieving them of obligations that might be created in the course of other forms of gift exchange. In doing so, men monopolize code authorship and simultaneously de-legitimize the kinds of social ties necessary to build mechanisms for women’s inclusion.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document