scholarly journals The Nature of Hybrid Community: An Exploratory Study of Open Source Software User Groups

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh Jin ◽  
Daniel Robey ◽  
Marie-Claude Boudreau
Keyword(s):  
Field Study ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
User Community ◽  
Physical Representation ◽  
User Groups

Much prior emphasis in the study of open source software has been placed on the virtual nature of development activities. We argue that many open source projects are better characterized as hybrid communities, which are comprised of both virtual and physically bounded activities. Our field study adopts a dual ontology to investigate the relationships between virtual and physical representations of the Linux user community. Our findings suggest that the virtual and physical representations of a hybrid community complement each other in a number of ways. Specifically, we uncover six ways through which a physical representation may complement the virtual one, and four ways through which a virtual representation may complement the physical one. We conclude that leaders of open source projects should strive to organize complementary activities across virtual and physical representations of the community.

Open Source Web Portals

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-32
Author(s):  
Vanessa P. Braganholo ◽  
Bernardo Miranda ◽  
Marta Mattoso
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Source Code ◽  
Web Portals ◽  
Web Portal ◽  
Easy Task ◽  
User Community

Open source software is required to be widely available to the user community. To help developers fulfill this requirement, Web portals provide a way to make open source projects public so that the user community has access to their source code, can contribute to their development, and can interact with the developer team. However, choosing a Web portal is not an easy task. There are several options available, each of them offering a set of tools and features to its users. The goal of this article is to analyze a set of existing Web portals (SourceForge.net, Apache, Tigris, ObjectWeb, and Savannah) in the hopes that this will help users to choose a hosting site for their projects.

scholarly journals Use of Open Source Software in Health Care Delivery – Results of a Qualitative Field Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 107-113
Author(s):  
O. Heinze ◽  
B. Bergh ◽  
H. Schmuhl
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Field Study ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Health Care Delivery ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Clinical Setting ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Health It ◽  
It Executives

Summary Objectives: To assess and analyze the attitude of health IT executives towards the utilization of specialized medical Open Source software (OSS) in Germany's and other European countries' health care delivery. Methods: After an initial literature review a field study was carried out based on semi-structured expert interviews. Eight German and 11 other European health IT executives were surveyed. The results were qualitatively analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Identified concepts were reviewed using SWOT analysis. Results: In total, 13 strengths, 11 weaknesses, 3 opportunities, and 8 threats of the utilization of OSS in a clinical setting could be identified. Additionally, closely related aspects like general software procurement criteria, the overall attitude of health IT executives, users, and management towards OSS and its current and future use could as well be assessed. Conclusions: Medical OSS is rarely used in health care delivery. In order to capitalize the unique advantages of OSS in a clinical setting, complex requirements need to be addressed. Shortcomings of OSS describe an attractive breeding ground for new commercial offerings and services that need yet to be seen.

scholarly journals Stewarding National User Groups to Strengthen Open Source Software Communities

Publications ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Pascal-Nicolas Becker ◽  
Michele Mennielli ◽  
Katharina Trachte
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Great Success ◽  
User Group ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
User Groups ◽  
The Uk ◽  
International Engagement

Open Source Software (OSS) communities are often international, bringing together people from diverse regions with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. National user groups can bolster these international communities by convening local events, championing the software to peers, welcoming and onboarding new contributors, raising money to support the broader community, and collecting important information on user’s needs. The open source community-led software DSpace has had great success encouraging the creation of national user groups; in the UK, North America, and Germany, the Groups have been active for many years. However, it was in 2018, thanks to a renewed focus on international engagement and more diverse representation of the global community in governance groups, that the national communities entered into a new phase: 15 new national User Groups have been formed all over the world since then, while the German user group evolved into the “DSpace-Konsortium Deutschland”, founded by 25 institutions, marking a pivotal point for membership options and National User Group participation within DSpace Governance. This article will offer an overview of the historical development of the DSpace community and its governance model, as well as DuraSpace’s international engagement strategy, including its benefits and challenges. Subsequently, we will present a case study on the DSpace-Konsortium Deutschland and explain its relation to the broader context of how to build national user groups within global communities.

An Exploratory Study of Conflict over Paying Debian Developers

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 20-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Gerlach ◽  
Chorng-Guang Wu ◽  
Lawrence F Cunningham ◽  
Clifford E Young
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Software Project ◽  
Project Leader ◽  
Citizenship Behaviors ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Study Offer

This article reports on an exploratory study of the causes and effects of conflict within the open source software project, Debian. Conflict arose when the project leader decided to introduce payment for select volunteers within an all-volunteer project to speed up the release of Debian. The study utilized the theoretical framework of Boltanski and Thévenot for understanding disputes. The results of the survey of Debian developers show that the conditions for conflict were complex and were driven by perception of misuse of authority, ideology, feeling of inequity, and satisfaction with pay for their regular job. The effects of the conflict were shown to be pervasive as it affected volunteer's citizenship behaviors and withdrawal from the project. Additionally, the conflict led some developers to reaffirm their beliefs about the value of paying volunteers. The conclusions of the study offer insight into the issues of incentivizing volunteer OSS developers.

Examining Investment Strategies of Venture Capitalists in Open Source Software

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (04) ◽  
pp. 1450019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Schaarschmidt ◽  
Harald von Kortzfleisch
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Investment Behavior ◽  
Venture Capitalists ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
External Funds ◽  
Level Of Risk

A growing body of literature has explored the motivation of firms to take part in open source software (OSS) development, yet the role of venture capitalists and their role in OSS projects is largely unattached. Based on information from publicly available data, we investigated the investment behavior of 37 VCs investing in 45 OSS projects. To understand how these venture capitalists try to reduce their perception of uncertainty and risk, we developed a 2 × 2 matrix of different investment approaches. While the X-axis represents the average age of a community/OSS product at the time of investment, the Y-axis reflects the average round of a venture capitalist's entry. This exploratory study illustrates how venture capitalists limit the level of risk inherent in certain OSS investments and results in a number of implications for communities seeking for external funds as well as for investing firms.

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