Essence of distributed work: The case of the Linux kernel (originally published in Volume 5, Number 11, November 2000)

First Monday ◽  
2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Yun Moon ◽  
Lee Sproull

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 technical and management decisions of Linus Torvalds the individual were critical in laying the groundwork for a collaborative software development project that has lasted almost a decade. The contributions of volunteer programmers distributed worldwide enabled the development of an operating system on the par with proprietary operating systems. The Linux electronic community was the organizing structure that coordinated the efforts of the individual programmers. 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.

2015 ◽  
Vol 1115 ◽  
pp. 484-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Sami ◽  
Akram M. Zeki

The aim of this study is to create and assemble the system with customizing/building Linux kernel and environments to be compatible and efficient on mini-ITX computer. The objective of the study is to create/customizing lightweight operating system using GNU/Linux to be used on computer to be used on vehicle. The system would also optimize the size and functionalities most probably would be implemented on car computer system.Keywords: mini-ATX, CarPC, Linux, Ubuntu, Qt, QML


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 880-896
Author(s):  
Helena Merikoski ◽  
Paula Savolainen ◽  
Jarmo J. Ahonen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a life cycle phase of a software development project which is substantial for the success of the project. This paper visualizes the project start-up phase from suppliers’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach The method is a theory building from case studies. The data were collected from three software supplier firms by conducting process modeling separately in each firm. Findings The study resulted in a model of a supplier’s software project start-up which includes start-up practices and involved roles. The results indicate that project start-up is an integral and structured phase of project life cycle, which influences the execution of a software development project, especially from the supplier’s perspective in the project business context. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on the start-up phase of software development projects delivered to external customers. Therefore, developed project start-up model is applicable as such in software supplier firms. Practical implications The project start-up model presented in this paper indicates that project start-up is a complex and multi-dimensional activity in a supplier firm. This study suggests that if the project start-up phase is clearly defined, planned and followed in a supplier firm, it reduces confusion and miscommunication among the people involved in the project and helps to achieve the business goals of a project. Originality/value This study emphasizes that it is necessary to make a distinction between the perspectives of the customer and the supplier when studying projects in the project business context. The findings contribute the new knowledge for managing outsourced software development projects.


Information ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamzeh Eyal Salman ◽  
Mustafa Hammad ◽  
Abdelhak-Djamel Seriai ◽  
Ahed Al-Sbou

Software applications have become a fundamental part in the daily work of modern society as they meet different needs of users in different domains. Such needs are known as software requirements (SRs) which are separated into functional (software services) and non-functional (quality attributes). The first step of every software development project is SR elicitation. This step is a challenge task for developers as they need to understand and analyze SRs manually. For example, the collected functional SRs need to be categorized into different clusters to break-down the project into a set of sub-projects with related SRs and devote each sub-project to a separate development team. However, functional SRs clustering has never been considered in the literature. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an approach to automatically cluster functional requirements based on semantic measure. An empirical evaluation is conducted using four open-access software projects to evaluate our proposal. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach identifies semantic clusters according to well-known used measures in the subject.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajorshi Sen Gupta

This article describes how entrepreneurs face critical risks in terms of quality control and knowledge management while outsourcing software development to independent service providers. First, it is recommended that lump-sum payment contracts should be avoided since software development project involves uncertainty. Instead, a variable payment contingent on observed quality can induce the service provider to exert optimal effort on the project. Second, entrepreneurs must not overlook the importance of providing economic incentives. They can protect their intellectual property by withholding critical knowledge and paying information rents in terms of higher than market wages to the service providers. Third, a startling result is that a low wage nation is not necessarily the optimal location to outsource software development projects. Thus, high wage-strong IPR nations might be chosen instead of low wage-weak IPR nations. Finally, the article explains the apparent paradox that software projects are often outsourced to locations that are characterized by weak intellectual property rights regime and high propensity of imitation.


10.28945/2894 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Venables ◽  
Grace Tan

Teaching future knowledge engineers, the necessary skills for designing and implementing intelligent software solutions required by business, industry and research today, is a very tall order. These skills are not easily taught in traditional undergraduate computer science lectures; nor are the practical experiences easily reinforced in laboratory sessions. In an attempt to address this issue, a software development project, designed to take students through a complete process of knowledge engineering, was introduced in an undergraduate Intelligent Systems subject. In this project, students were required to act as domain experts, knowledge engineers, programmers, end users and project manager in the production of a game-playing expert system. The paper describes the project, its objectives and development, as well as some of the benefits.


2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radoslav Rakovic

Successful management of a software project, besides a well-defined project development process, requires an early estimate of project complexity. In a prevailing practice, software development costs usually have been determined a posteriori i.e. after software project implementation. It is essential however, to know this estimate a priori, i.e., before commencement of works. This paper presents an attempt to construct a methodology that would enable an early estimate of software development cost and its refinements during subsequent development phases. The methodology assumes an object-oriented approach based on the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Unified Software Development Process (USDP). It outlines an Use Case Driven Architecture-Centric, Iterative and Incremental estimate process that could significantly improve and simplify early cost estimates. The presented methodology is illustrated on example of the POST software development project.


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