scholarly journals Free and open source licenses in community life: Two empirical cases

Author(s):  
Stefano De Paoli ◽  
Maurizio Teli ◽  
Vincenzo D'Andrea

How do licenses participate in Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS) community life? This paper aims at answering this question. Despite the dynamic character of FLOSS development, the sociological debate has taken for granted a static perspective of communities organized around a restricted range of social values and rules. Criticizing the main sociological approaches to FLOSS community, we assert, on the contrary, that the FLOSS free/open character shall not be assumed a priori to explain the coordination efforts in communities. Focusing on the role of software licenses in everyday FLOSS communities activities, considered as boundary objects, we observe that controversies and conflicts around licenses are fundamental parts of communities life. Basing our researches on two different projects, the Geographical Information System GRASS and the OpenSolaris™ Operating System, we show how the construction of the FLOSS free/open character takes place inside the debates about licenses.

2009 ◽  
pp. 1934-1950
Author(s):  
Kirk St. Amant

This chapter examines the role of open source software (OSS) in international outsourcing practices that involve the transfer of knowledge work from one nation to another. Included in this examination are discussions of the benefits and the limitations of OSS use in outsourcing. The chapter also presents organization-specific and industry-wide strategies for effective OSS use in outsourcing situations. The chapter then concludes with a discussion of areas of international outsourcing where OSS might have important future applications or effects. The purpose of such an examination is to provide readers with the knowledge and the insights needed to make effective decisions related to the use of OSS in international outsourcing situations.


Author(s):  
Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers

This chapter discusses the role of the project/product community in the open source product life cycle. It outlines how a community-driven approach affects not only the development process, but also (and more importantly) the marketing/sales process, the deployment, the operation, and in general the resulting software product. Participation in the community is essential for any organization using the product, leading to the concept of a community customer. Specific community participation guidelines are given to organizations and individuals who deploy and use open source software, further develop it, or offer lifetime services on the product.


Author(s):  
Kwei-Jay Lin ◽  
Yi-Hsuan Lin ◽  
Tung-Mei Ko

In this chapter, the authors present a novel perspective by using the Creative Commons (CC) licensing model to compare 10 commonly used OSS licenses. The authors also propose a license compatibility table to show that whether it is possible to combine OSS with CC-licensed open content in a creative work. By using the CC licensing concept to interpret OSS licenses, the authors hope that users can get a deeper understanding on the ideas and issues behind many of the OSS licenses. In addition, the authors hope that by means of this table, users can make a better decision on the license selection while combining open source with CC-licensed works.


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