User:Tagtheworld/Open-source-research
Organisation im Wandel: die OpenSource-Forschung und die Perspektiven für Communities of Practice
Überlegungen zu einem neuen (konstruktivistischen) Verständnis von 'Organisation und organisationalem Wandel insbesondere im Zusammenhang mit Wissenserwerb, Partizipation, u.a.m.
Keywords and concepts - the main interest
Some interesting articles, ideas and concepts were linked at the subsite: Organisation im Wandel: die OpenSource-Forschung und Perspektiven
- discourse of universe / universe of discourse (G.H.Mead)
- Cathedral or Bazaar - Eric Raymond
- Network of innovation - Illka Tuomi
- Community of Practice CoP Lave & Wenger and furthermore...- there are even more interesting concepts:
LPP: Building upon Lave and Wenger's theory of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP), this paper offers a longitudinal investigation of one OSS community in which sustained participation is hypothesized to be associated with the coevolution of two major elements of LPP theory: "situated learning" (the process of acting knowledgeably and purposefully in the world) and "identity construction" (the process of being identified within the community).
SECI model of knowledge dimensions: Nonaka Takeuchi The SECI model of knowledge dimensions is a model of knowledge creation that explains how tacit and explicit knowledge are converted into organisational knowledge. The SECI model distinguishes four knowledge dimensions – socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization – which together form the acronym "SECI". The SECI model was originally developed by Ikujiro Nonaka in 1990 and later further refined by Hirotaka Takeuchi.
liminal approach – cf. the movement of individuals engaged in open source communities. open source communities and growing body of knowledge on corporate engagement in open source communities, our understanding of the movements of individuals within these communities is limited. To analyze these movements, we build on Arnold Van Gennep and Victor Turners’ theories on liminality. Through this lens, we build an understanding of the movements of individual members within open source communities.
more Core Tags and keywords:
discourse of universe / universe of discourse (G.H.Mead)
Cathedral or Bazaar - Eric Raymond
Network of innovation
Community of Practice CoP Lave & Wenger
SECI SECI model of knowledge dimensions - Nonaka Takeuchi
Flow of knowledge
liminal approach
Participation
core-peripher communication
Situated Learning;
Expert-to-novice-communication;
Network-Research
ANT Akteur-netowrk-Theory
Communities Of Practice
Legitimate Peripheral Participants (LPP),
Open Source Software Community
Qualitative Study
knowledge sharing
Distributed innovation
performance of OSS projects
user innovation
open source
expertise
Knowledge flows
Community Management
Hybrid open source
social networks,
open boundary,
open source software development process,
SNA
actors
success-factors
barriers
more core tags:
- Knowledge Flows within Open Source Software Projects from a Social Network Perspective
- individuals' motivations for joining volunteer communities,
- different/various stackholders
- development contributions from external stakeholders, and what knowledge they let out of their internal software development activities.
- core vs. peripheral areas
- middleman
- Peripheral Developer Participation in Open Source Projects
Link: to the collection of research articles https://flosshub.org/biblio
sample of interesting articles based on the central ressource: see https://flosshub.org
The indirect debate and the community. How the periphery and the core relate in the Free/Open Source Software community
https://flosshub.org/content/knowledge-flows-within-open-source-software-projects-social-network-perspective
https://flosshub.org/393
Submitted by superadmin on Mon, 2009-07-20 14:3
Title: The indirect debate and the community. How the periphery and the core relate in the Free/Open Source Software community
Year of Publication 2008
Authors Rullani, F
Secondary Title DRUID conference 2008 paper
Date Published June
Abstract: The present paper analyzes the relationship between the core and the periphery in the Free/Open Source innovation model. Considering the core as the "sparring partner" of the periphery, and not vice versa, the present discussion tries to apply a view opposite to the most diffused one. The first passages of the paper are meant to characterize the periphery, its functions, and the source of the realized division of labor with the core. It is shown that this specific schema is the consequence of the self-organizing nature of the FOSS model, that needs to dissipate resources to assure that the whole dynamics does not cease. However, this peculiar division of labor is possible only if the periphery and the core share the same set of interpretative schemes, norms and vision of the authoritative configuration of the community. To understand how this last passage is possible, I develop a conceptual model based on Wenger's concept of imagination and alignment, usually kept in the background by the literature on FOSS, and on the idea of dissonance (e.g. Kuran, 1998). Eventually, the paper tries discuss the relevant properties of the periphery (invisibility, atomization and instability) emerging from the analysis of the possible flaws of the process
rullani_periphery.pdf
Understanding Sustained Participation in Open Source Software Projects
https://flosshub.org/content/understanding-sustained-participation-open-source-software-projects
Year of Publication 2009
Authors Fang, Y, Neufeld, D
Secondary Title J. Manage. Inf. Syst.
Keywords: Communities Of Practice, Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Open Source Projects, Open Source Software Community, Qualitative Study
Abstract: Prior research into open source software (OSS) developer participation has emphasized individuals' motivations for joining these volunteer communities, but it has failed to explain why people stay or leave in the long run. Building upon Lave and Wenger's theory of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP), this paper offers a longitudinal investigation of one OSS community in which sustained participation is hypothesized to be associated with the coevolution of two major elements of LPP theory: "situated learning" (the process of acting knowledgeably and purposefully in the world) and "identity construction" (the process of being identified within the community). To test this hypothesis, data were collected from multiple sources, including online public project documents, electronic mail messages, tracker messages, and log files. Results from qualitative analyses revealed that initial conditions to participate did not effectively predict long-term participation, but that situated learning and identity construction behaviors were positively linked to sustained participation. Furthermore, this study reveals that sustained participants distinguished themselves by consistently engaging in situated learning that both made conceptual (advising others) and practical contributions (improving the code). Implications and future research are discussed.
URL http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1554441.1554443(link is external)
DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222250401(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras: Communities Of Practice, Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Open Source Projects, Open Source Software Community,Qualitative Study
link: https://flosshub.org/content/understanding-sustained-participation-open-source-software-projects
Sharing and Creating Knowledge in Open-Source Communities The case of KDE
https://flosshub.org/142
Year of Publication 2004
Authors Hemetsberger, A
Abstract: Our research suggests that knowledge is shared and created in online communities of practice through the establishment of processes and 'technologies' that enable virtual re-experience for the learners at various levels. It demonstrates that online communities of practice overcome the problem of tacit knowledge transformation through the usage of technological tools, task-related features, analogies and usage scenarios. Three questions guided our research. The first one concentrates on how community members organize content with regard to their daily routines that potentially transforms into knowledge for other members. Secondly, as open-source communities depend on attracting and socializing new members, we inquired how new members are enabled to accumulate the knowledge necessary for becoming a valued member. Thirdly, we asked how members co-create and conceptualize new ideas - create new knowledge - in absence of physical proximity. Re-experience is enabled by modular tasks and transactive group memory, rigid guidance of new members, openness and legitimate peripheral participation, asynchronous communication, and virtual experimentation. Empirical evidence is based on an ethnographic investigation of the KDE project community.
hemreinh.pdf
https://flosshub.org/142
Learning and knowledge in FLOSS - Situated learning and organizational knowledge-conversion in community-based free/libre open source software development
https://flosshub.org/337
Year of Publication 2006
Authors Bolstad, SH
Abstract: In free/libre open source software development (FLOSS), groups of developers and users working in geographically dispersed settings are supported by a dense network of interactions. The participants are highly skilled in the use of information- and communication technologies, and build the software by relying on extensive peer production and through skillful use of communication tools available on the Internet. In building the software, explicit, formal and structured knowledge in the form of documents, objects, machines and external sources are communicated and stored in ways that make it available for others in the present and future. This knowledge make up an important resource for the members and developers of the community. Another kind, or aspect, of knowledge, often called tacit or soft knowledge, is informal, unstructured, resides in people, and are difficult, or maybe impossible, to articulate. The questions guiding this research is how knowledge, both explicit and tacit, is shared, and how a new member is able take part in the practice and knowledge of the community. The theory of legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice describes an environment for people to develop knowledge through interaction with others in an environment where knowledge is created, nurtured and sustained. By taking part in the practice as a participant observer, through virtual ethnography, the author describes the practice and communication in this decentralized and knowledge-intensive process. Taking it a step further, the knowledge of the community, and how it is shared within the ???organization???, is explored with a model for managing dynamic aspects of organizational knowledge-creation. The central theme here is that knowledge is created through a continuous dialogue between tacit and explicit knowledge. Logs from Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and interviews with core developers are analyzed, and the author argues that the Plone community is able to share both kinds of knowledge in a complex web of resources and interaction. The analysis further suggest that the FLOSS development-model facilitates access, transparency and participation on premisses that are important for learning.
PDF icon Learning-and-knowledge-in-FLOSS.pdf
https://flosshub.org/337
https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/Learning-and-knowledge-in-FLOSS.pdf
An Exploratory Study on the Two New Trends in Open Source Software: End-Users and Service
link: https://flosshub.org/content/exploratory-study-two-new-trends-open-source-software-end-users-and-service
Publication Type Conference Paper
Year of Publication 2009
Authors Choi, N, Chengular-Smith, I
Secondary Title 2009 42nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2009)
Keywords: developers, intended audiences, sourceforge
Abstract: Many have been envisaging the emergence of Open Source Software (OSS) for general end-users and the enhancements in providing services and support, as the most critical factors for OSS success, and at the same time, the most critical issues which are holding back the OSS movement. While these two distinct waves in OSS evolution have become more observable, researchers have not yet explored the characteristics of these two distinct new waves. The current study found evidence for these two waves and further explored the two waves by empirically examining two hundred projects hosted in Sourceforge.net. We compared the characteristics of OSS projects that are intended for two disparate audiences: developers and end-users and found that projects for end-users supported more languages but also had more restrictive licenses as compared to projects for developers.
link: https://flosshub.org/content/exploratory-study-two-new-trends-open-source-software-end-users-and-service
Notes: used sourceforge data
"We created our dataset by restricting our attention to projects that have production/stable and mature development status"
"we limited our sample to two categories: developers and end-users/desktop"
"We manually compiled a total of 200 projects, 100 each of the most downloaded projects from developers and end-users/desktop categories during the period of March 4 to March 23, 2008. "
DOI 10.1109/HICSS.2009.63(link is external)
date 07-07-05.pdf 245.33 KB
Taxonomy upgrade extras: sourceforge developers intended audiences
https://flosshub.org/content/exploratory-study-two-new-trends-open-source-software-end-users-and-service
How Social Q&A Sites Are Changing Knowledge Sharing in Open Source Software Communities
https://flosshub.org/content/how-social-qa-sites-are-changing-knowledge-sharing-open-source-software-communities
Publication Type Conference Paper
Year of Publication 2014
Authors Vasilescu, B, Serebrenik, A, Devanbu, P, Filkov, V
Secondary Title Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work &\#38; Social Computing
Keywords a, crowdsourced knowledge, gamification., mailing lists, open source, social q&\#38
Abstract: Historically, mailing lists have been the preferred means for coordinating development and user support activities. With the emergence and popularity growth of social Q&A sites such as the StackExchange network (e.g., StackOverflow), this is beginning to change. Such sites offer different socio-technical incentives to their participants than mailing lists do, e.g., rich web environments to store and manage content collaboratively, or a place to showcase their knowledge and expertise more vividly to peers or potential recruiters. A key difference between StackExchange and mailing lists is gamification, i.e., StackExchange participants compete to obtain reputation points and badges. In this paper, we use a case study of R (a widely-used tool for data analysis) to investigate how mailing list participation has evolved since the launch of StackExchange. Our main contribution is the assembly of a joint data set from the two sources, in which participants in both the texttt{r-help} mailing list and StackExchange are identifiable. This permits their activities to be linked across the two resources and also over time. With this data set we found that user support activities show a strong shift away from texttt{r-help}. In particular, mailing list experts are migrating to StackExchange, where their behaviour is different. First, participants active both on texttt{r-help} and on StackExchange are more active than those who focus exclusively on only one of the two. Second, they provide faster answers on StackExchange than on texttt{r-help}, suggesting they are motivated by the emph{gamified} environment. To our knowledge, our study is the first to directly chart the changes in behaviour of specific contributors as they migrate into gamified environments, and has important implications for knowledge management in software engineering.
URL http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2531602.2531659(link is external)
DOI 10.1145/2531602.2531659(link is external)
Attachment Size cscw14.pdf 757.7 KB
Taxonomy upgrade extras: open source mailing lists crowdsourced knowledge gamification.social q&\#38
https://flosshub.org/content/how-social-qa-sites-are-changing-knowledge-sharing-open-source-software-communities
Managing the Bazaar: Commercialization and peripheral participation in mature, community-led Free/Open source software projects
https://flosshub.org/content/managing-bazaar-commercialization-and-peripheral-participation-mature-community-led-freeopen
Publication Type Thesis
Year of Publication 2007
Authors Berdou, E
Abstract
The thesis investigates two fundamental dynamics of participation and collaboration in mature, community-led Free/Open Source (F/OS) software projects - commercialization and peripheral participation. The two primary case studies of the research are the GNOME and KDE communities.The thesis contributes insights into how the gift economy is embedded in the exchange economy and the role of peripheral contributors. The analysis indicates that community-integrated paid developers have a key role in project development, maintaining the infrastructure aspects of the code base. The analysis suggests that programming and non-programming contributors are distinct in their make-up, priorities and rhythms of participation, and that learning plays an important role in controlling access. The results show that volunteers are important drivers of peripheral activities, such as translation and documentation. The term "autonomous peripherality"" is used to capture the unique characteristics of these activities. These findings support the argument that centrality and peripherality are associated with the division of labour, which, in turn, is associated with employment relations and frameworks of institutional support. The thesis shows how the tensions produced by commercialization and peripheral participation are interwoven with values of meritocracy, ritual and strategic enactment of the idea of community as well as with tools and techniques developed to address the emergence of a set of problems specific to management and governance. These are characterized as "technologies of communities."
PDF icon PhD_Berdou.pdf
https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/PhD_Berdou.pdf
User and developer mediation in an Open Source Software community: Boundary spanning through cross participation in online discussions
https://flosshub.org/content/user-and-developer-mediation-open-source-software-community-boundary-spanning-through-cross-
Submitted Thu, 2012-06-21 11:10
Title: User and developer mediation in an Open Source Software community: Boundary spanning through cross participation in online discussions
Year of Publication 2008
Authors Barcellini, F, Détienne, F, Burkhardt, J-M
Keywords Boundary spanners, Cross-participants, Distributed design, Open Source Software Community, Role emerging design
Abstract
The aim of this research is to analyse how design and use are mediated in Open Source Software (OSS) design. Focusing on the Python community, our study examines a pushed-by-users design proposal through the discussions occurring in two mailing-lists: one, user-oriented and the other, developer-oriented. To characterize the links between users and developers, we investigate the activities and references (knowledge sharing) performed by the contributors to these two mailing-lists. We found that the participation of users remains local to their community. However, several key participants act as boundary spanners between the user and the developer communities. This emerging role is characterized by cross-participation in parallel same-topic discussions in both mailing-lists, cohesion between cross-participants, the occupation of a central position in the social network linking users and developers, as well as active, distinctive and adapted contributions. The user championing the proposal acts as a key boundary spanner coordinating the process and using explicit linking strategies. We argue that OSS design may be considered as a form of role emerging design, i.e. design organized and pushed through emerging roles and through a balance between these roles. The OSS communities seem to provide a suitable socio-technical environment to enable such role emergence.
URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2007.10.008(link is external)
DOI 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2007.10.008(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras: Open Source Software CommunityBoundary spanners Cross-participants Distributed design Role emerging design
https://flosshub.org/content/user-and-developer-mediation-open-source-software-community-boundary-spanning-through-cross-
The indirect debate and the community. How the periphery and the core relate in the Free/Open Source Software community https://flosshub.org/content/knowledge-flows-within-open-source-software-projects-social-network-perspective
link: https://flosshub.org/393
Submitted by superadmin on Mon, 2009-07-20 14:39
Title The indirect debate and the community. How the periphery and the core relate in the Free/Open Source Software community
Publication Type Unpublished
Year of Publication 2008
Authors Rullani, F
Abstract:The present paper analyzes the relationship between the core and the periphery in the Free/Open Source innovation model. Considering the core as the "sparring partner" of the periphery, and not vice versa, the present discussion tries to apply a view opposite to the most diffused one. The first passages of the paper are meant to characterize the periphery, its functions, and the source of the realized division of labor with the core. It is shown that this specific schema is the consequence of the self-organizing nature of the FOSS model, that needs to dissipate resources to assure that the whole dynamics does not cease. However, this peculiar division of labor is possible only if the periphery and the core share the same set of interpretative schemes, norms and vision of the authoritative configuration of the community. To understand how this last passage is possible, I develop a conceptual model based on Wenger's concept of imagination and alignment, usually kept in the background by the literature on FOSS, and on the idea of dissonance (e.g. Kuran, 1998). Eventually, the paper tries discuss the relevant properties of the periphery (invisibility, atomization and instability) emerging from the analysis of the possible flaws of the process
Attachment rullani_periphery.pdf
link: https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/rullani_periphery.pdf
https://flosshub.org/393
Evolution of Open Source Communities
Link: https://flosshub.org/content/evolution-open-source-communities
Submitted Sun, 2009-10-04 21:36
Title Evolution of Open Source Communities
Year of Publication 2006
Authors Weiss, M, Moroiu, G, Zhao, P
Secondary Title OSS2006: Open Source Systems (IFIP 2.13)
Pagination 21 - 32
Publisher Springer
Keywords apache, COMMUNITY, core, developers, email, email archives, mailing list, membership
Abstract: The goal of this paper is to document the evolution of a portfolio of related open source communities over time. As a case study, we explore the subprojects of the Apache project, one of the largest and most visible open source projects. We extract the community structure from the mailing list data, and study how the subcommunities evolve, and are interrelated over time. Our analysis leads us to propose the following hypotheses about the growth of open source communities: (1) communities add new developers by a process of preferential attachment; (2) links between existing communities are also subject to preferential attachment; (3) developers will migrate between communities together with other collaborators; and (4) information flow follows project dependencies. In particular, we are concerned with the underlying factors that motivate the migration between communities, such as information flow, co-worker ties, and project dependencies.
Notes "we took snapshots of its membership at regular intervals" "we chose a one year period" "we retrieve the list of core developers ordered by their number of inbound messages, as noted above."
link: https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/Evolution%20of%20Open%20Source%20Communities.pdf
Taxonomy upgrade extras: community, developers, apache, core,email, archives, mailing list, email, membership,
link: https://flosshub.org/content/evolution-open-source-communities
Knowledge Flows Within Open Source Software Projects: A Social Network Perspective https://flosshub.org/content/knowledge-flows-within-open-source-software-projects-social-network-perspective https://flosshub.org/content/knowledge-flows-within-open-source-software-projects-social-network-perspective
Title Knowledge Flows Within Open Source Software Projects: A Social Network Perspective
Publication Type Book Chapter
Year of Publication 2017
Authors Kerzazi, N, El Asri, I
Secondary Authors El-Azouzi, R, Menasche, DS, Sabir, E, De Pellegrini, F, Benjillali, M
Secondary Title Advances in Ubiquitous Networking 2: Proceedings of the UNet'16
Keywords: expertise, Knowledge flows, open source, SNA
Abstract; Developing software is knowledge-intensive activity, requiring extensive technical knowledge and awareness. The abstract part of development is the social interactions that drive knowledge flows between contributors, especially for Open Source Software (OSS). This study investigated knowledge sharing and propagation from social perspective using social network analysis (SNA). We mined and analyzed the issue and review histories of three OSS from GitHub. Particular attention has been paid to the socio-interactions through comments from contributors on reviews. We aim at explaining the propagation and density of knowledge flows within contributor networks. The results show that review requests flow from the core contributors toward peripheral contributors and comments on reviews are in a continuous loop from the core teams to the peripherals and back; and the core contributors leverage on their awareness and technical knowledge to increase their notoriety by playing the role of communication brokers supported by comments on work items.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1627-1_19(link is external)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1627-1_19(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras: open source, expertise, Knowledge flows, SNA
link:https://flosshub.org/content/knowledge-flows-within-open-source-software-projects-social-network-perspective
Links: https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/rullani_periphery.pdf https://flosshub.org/393
Understanding Sustained Participation in Open Source Software Projects
https://flosshub.org/content/understanding-sustained-participation-open-source-software-projects
Year of Publication 2009
Authors Fang, Y, Neufeld, D
Keywords: Communities Of Practice, Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Open Source Projects, Open Source Software Community, Qualitative Study
Abstract: Prior research into open source software (OSS) developer participation has emphasized individuals' motivations for joining these volunteer communities, but it has failed to explain why people stay or leave in the long run. Building upon Lave and Wenger's theory of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP), this paper offers a longitudinal investigation of one OSS community in which sustained participation is hypothesized to be associated with the coevolution of two major elements of LPP theory: "situated learning" (the process of acting knowledgeably and purposefully in the world) and "identity construction" (the process of being identified within the community). To test this hypothesis, data were collected from multiple sources, including online public project documents, electronic mail messages, tracker messages, and log files. Results from qualitative analyses revealed that initial conditions to participate did not effectively predict long-term participation, but that situated learning and identity construction behaviors were positively linked to sustained participation. Furthermore, this study reveals that sustained participants distinguished themselves by consistently engaging in situated learning that both made conceptual (advising others) and practical contributions (improving the code). Implications and future research are discussed.
URL http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1554441.1554443(link is external)
DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222250401(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras: Communities Of Practice, Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Open Source Projects, Open Source Software Community, Qualitative Study
Link: https://flosshub.org/content/understanding-sustained-participation-open-source-software-projects
Sharing and Creating Knowledge in Open-Source Communities The case of KDE
https://flosshub.org/142
Year of Publication 2004
Authors Hemetsberger, A
Abstract: Our research suggests that knowledge is shared and created in online communities of practice through the establishment of processes and 'technologies' that enable virtual re-experience for the learners at various levels. It demonstrates that online communities of practice overcome the problem of tacit knowledge transformation through the usage of technological tools, task-related features, analogies and usage scenarios. Three questions guided our research. The first one concentrates on how community members organize content with regard to their daily routines that potentially transforms into knowledge for other members. Secondly, as open-source communities depend on attracting and socializing new members, we inquired how new members are enabled to accumulate the knowledge necessary for becoming a valued member. Thirdly, we asked how members co-create and conceptualize new ideas - create new knowledge - in absence of physical proximity. Re-experience is enabled by modular tasks and transactive group memory, rigid guidance of new members, openness and legitimate peripheral participation, asynchronous communication, and virtual experimentation. Empirical evidence is based on an ethnographic investigation of the KDE project community.
Full Text: hemreinh.pdf
Link: https://flosshub.org/142
Learning and knowledge in FLOSS - Situated learning and organizational knowledge-conversion in community-based free/libre open source software development
Link https://flosshub.org/337
Year of Publication 2006
Authors Bolstad, SH
Abstract: In free/libre open source software development (FLOSS), groups of developers and users working in geographically dispersed settings are supported by a dense network of interactions. The participants are highly skilled in the use of information- and communication technologies, and build the software by relying on extensive peer production and through skillful use of communication tools available on the Internet. In building the software, explicit, formal and structured knowledge in the form of documents, objects, machines and external sources are communicated and stored in ways that make it available for others in the present and future. This knowledge make up an important resource for the members and developers of the community. Another kind, or aspect, of knowledge, often called tacit or soft knowledge, is informal, unstructured, resides in people, and are difficult, or maybe impossible, to articulate. The questions guiding this research is how knowledge, both explicit and tacit, is shared, and how a new member is able take part in the practice and knowledge of the community. The theory of legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice describes an environment for people to develop knowledge through interaction with others in an environment where knowledge is created, nurtured and sustained. By taking part in the practice as a participant observer, through virtual ethnography, the author describes the practice and communication in this decentralized and knowledge-intensive process. Taking it a step further, the knowledge of the community, and how it is shared within the ???organization???, is explored with a model for managing dynamic aspects of organizational knowledge-creation. The central theme here is that knowledge is created through a continuous dialogue between tacit and explicit knowledge. Logs from Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and interviews with core developers are analyzed, and the author argues that the Plone community is able to share both kinds of knowledge in a complex web of resources and interaction. The analysis further suggest that the FLOSS development-model facilitates access, transparency and participation on premisses that are important for learning.
Learning-and-knowledge-in-FLOSS.pdf
Link https://flosshub.org/337
Link https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/Learning-and-knowledge-in-FLOSS.pdf
An Exploratory Study on the Two New Trends in Open Source Software: End-Users and Service
https://flosshub.org/content/exploratory-study-two-new-trends-open-source-software-end-users-and-service
Year of Publication 2009
Authors Choi, N, Chengular-Smith, I
Secondary Title 2009 42nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2009)
Keywords developers, intended audiences, sourceforge
Abstract: Many have been envisaging the emergence of Open Source Software (OSS) for general end-users and the enhancements in providing services and support, as the most critical factors for OSS success, and at the same time, the most critical issues which are holding back the OSS movement. While these two distinct waves in OSS evolution have become more observable, researchers have not yet explored the characteristics of these two distinct new waves. The current study found evidence for these two waves and further explored the two waves by empirically examining two hundred projects hosted in Sourceforge.net. We compared the characteristics of OSS projects that are intended for two disparate audiences: developers and end-users and found that projects for end-users supported more languages but also had more restrictive licenses as compared to projects for developers.
https://flosshub.org/content/exploratory-study-two-new-trends-open-source-software-end-users-and-service
Note:
used sourceforge data
"We created our dataset by restricting our attention to projects that have production/stable and mature development status"
"we limited our sample to two categories: developers and end-users/desktop"
"We manually compiled a total of 200 projects, 100 each of the most downloaded projects from developers and end-users/desktop categories during the period of March 4 to March 23, 2008. "
DOI 10.1109/HICSS.2009.63(link is external)
Attachment: 07-07-05.pdf 245.33 KB
Taxonomy upgrade extras: sourceforge developers intended audiences
link: https://flosshub.org/content/exploratory-study-two-new-trends-open-source-software-end-users-and-service
How Social Q&A Sites Are Changing Knowledge Sharing in Open Source Software Communities
https://flosshub.org/content/how-social-qa-sites-are-changing-knowledge-sharing-open-source-software-communities
Publication Type Conference Paper
Year of Publication 2014
Authors: Vasilescu, B, Serebrenik, A, Devanbu, P, Filkov, V
Secondary Title Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work &\#38; Social Computing
Keywords: a, crowdsourced knowledge, gamification., mailing lists, open source, social q&\#38
Abstract:
Historically, mailing lists have been the preferred means for coordinating development and user support activities. With the emergence and popularity growth of social Q&A sites such as the StackExchange network (e.g., StackOverflow), this is beginning to change. Such sites offer different socio-technical incentives to their participants than mailing lists do, e.g., rich web environments to store and manage content collaboratively, or a place to showcase their knowledge and expertise more vividly to peers or potential recruiters. A key difference between StackExchange and mailing lists is gamification, i.e., StackExchange participants compete to obtain reputation points and badges. In this paper, we use a case study of R (a widely-used tool for data analysis) to investigate how mailing list participation has evolved since the launch of StackExchange. Our main contribution is the assembly of a joint data set from the two sources, in which participants in both the texttt{r-help} mailing list and StackExchange are identifiable. This permits their activities to be linked across the two resources and also over time. With this data set we found that user support activities show a strong shift away from texttt{r-help}. In particular, mailing list experts are migrating to StackExchange, where their behaviour is different. First, participants active both on texttt{r-help} and on StackExchange are more active than those who focus exclusively on only one of the two. Second, they provide faster answers on StackExchange than on texttt{r-help}, suggesting they are motivated by the emph{gamified} environment. To our knowledge, our study is the first to directly chart the changes in behaviour of specific contributors as they migrate into gamified environments, and has important implications for knowledge management in software engineering.
URL http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2531602.2531659(link is external)
DOI 10.1145/2531602.2531659(link is external)
Full Text : cscw14.pdf 757.7 KB
Taxonomy upgrade extras: open source, mailing lists, crowdsourced knowledge, gamification. social q&\#38
link: https://flosshub.org/content/how-social-qa-sites-are-changing-knowledge-sharing-open-source-software-communities
Managing the Bazaar: Commercialization and peripheral participation in mature, community-led Free/Open source software projects
https://flosshub.org/content/managing-bazaar-commercialization-and-peripheral-participation-mature-community-led-freeopen
Publication Type Thesis
Year of Publication 2007
Authors: Berdou, E
Abstract :The thesis investigates two fundamental dynamics of participation and collaboration in mature, community-led Free/Open Source (F/OS) software projects - commercialization and peripheral participation. The two primary case studies of the research are the GNOME and KDE communities.The thesis contributes insights into how the gift economy is embedded in the exchange economy and the role of peripheral contributors. The analysis indicates that community-integrated paid developers have a key role in project development, maintaining the infrastructure aspects of the code base. The analysis suggests that programming and non-programming contributors are distinct in their make-up, priorities and rhythms of participation, and that learning plays an important role in controlling access. The results show that volunteers are important drivers of peripheral activities, such as translation and documentation. The term "autonomous peripherality"" is used to capture the unique characteristics of these activities. These findings support the argument that centrality and peripherality are associated with the division of labour, which, in turn, is associated with employment relations and frameworks of institutional support. The thesis shows how the tensions produced by commercialization and peripheral participation are interwoven with values of meritocracy, ritual and strategic enactment of the idea of community as well as with tools and techniques developed to address the emergence of a set of problems specific to management and governance. These are characterized as "technologies of communities."
PDF icon PhD_Berdou.pdf
https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/PhD_Berdou.pdf
User and developer mediation in an Open Source Software community: Boundary spanning through cross participation in online discussions
https://flosshub.org/content/user-and-developer-mediation-open-source-software-community-boundary-spanning-through-cross-
Submitted on Thu, 2012-06-21 11:10
Title:User and developer mediation in an Open Source Software community: Boundary spanning through cross participation in online discussions
Year of Publication 2008
Authors Barcellini, F, Détienne, F, Burkhardt, J-M
Secondary Title Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud.
Keywords: Boundary spanners, Cross-participants, Distributed design, Open Source Software Community, Role emerging design
Abstract
The aim of this research is to analyse how design and use are mediated in Open Source Software (OSS) design. Focusing on the Python community, our study examines a pushed-by-users design proposal through the discussions occurring in two mailing-lists: one, user-oriented and the other, developer-oriented. To characterize the links between users and developers, we investigate the activities and references (knowledge sharing) performed by the contributors to these two mailing-lists. We found that the participation of users remains local to their community. However, several key participants act as boundary spanners between the user and the developer communities. This emerging role is characterized by cross-participation in parallel same-topic discussions in both mailing-lists, cohesion between cross-participants, the occupation of a central position in the social network linking users and developers, as well as active, distinctive and adapted contributions. The user championing the proposal acts as a key boundary spanner coordinating the process and using explicit linking strategies. We argue that OSS design may be considered as a form of role emerging design, i.e. design organized and pushed through emerging roles and through a balance between these roles. The OSS communities seem to provide a suitable socio-technical environment to enable such role emergence.
URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2007.10.008(link is external)
DOI 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2007.10.008(link is external)
Full Text
Taxonomy upgrade extras: Open Source Software Community, Boundary spanners, Cross-participants, Distributed design, Role emerging design
Link https://flosshub.org/content/user-and-developer-mediation-open-source-software-community-boundary-spanning-through-cross-
Evolution of Open Source Communities
https://flosshub.org/content/evolution-open-source-communities
Title: Evolution of Open Source Communities
Publication Type: Conference Paper
Year of Publication 2006
Authors Weiss, M, Moroiu, G, Zhao, P
Secondary Title OSS2006: Open Source Systems (IFIP 2.13)
Pagination 21 - 32
Publisher Springer
Keywords: apache, COMMUNITY, core, developers, email, email archives, mailing list, membership
Abstract: The goal of this paper is to document the evolution of a portfolio of related open source communities over time. As a case study, we explore the subprojects of the Apache project, one of the largest and most visible open source projects. We extract the community structure from the mailing list data, and study how the subcommunities evolve, and are interrelated over time. Our analysis leads us to propose the following hypotheses about the growth of open source communities: (1) communities add new developers by a process of preferential attachment; (2) links between existing communities are also subject to preferential attachment; (3) developers will migrate between communities together with other collaborators; and (4) information flow follows project dependencies. In particular, we are concerned with the underlying factors that motivate the migration between communities, such as information flow, co-worker ties, and project dependencies.
https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/Evolution%20of%20Open%20Source%20Communities.pdf
Taxonomy upgrade extras: community, developers, apache, core, email archives, mailing list, email, membership
Link: https://flosshub.org/content/evolution-open-source-communities
Knowledge Flows Within Open Source Software Projects: A Social Network Perspective
https://flosshub.org/content/knowledge-flows-within-open-source-software-projects-social-network-perspective
Year of Publication 2017
Authors Kerzazi, N, El Asri, I
Secondary Authors El-Azouzi, R, Menasche, DS, Sabir, E, De Pellegrini, F, Benjillali, M
Secondary Title Advances in Ubiquitous Networking 2: Proceedings of the UNet'16
Pagination 247–258
Publisher Springer Singapore
Place Published Singapore
ISBN Number 978-981-10-1627-1
Keywords: expertise, Knowledge flows, open source, SNA
Abstract: Developing software is knowledge-intensive activity, requiring extensive technical knowledge and awareness. The abstract part of development is the social interactions that drive knowledge flows between contributors, especially for Open Source Software (OSS). This study investigated knowledge sharing and propagation from social perspective using social network analysis (SNA). We mined and analyzed the issue and review histories of three OSS from GitHub. Particular attention has been paid to the socio-interactions through comments from contributors on reviews. We aim at explaining the propagation and density of knowledge flows within contributor networks. The results show that review requests flow from the core contributors toward peripheral contributors and comments on reviews are in a continuous loop from the core teams to the peripherals and back; and the core contributors leverage on their awareness and technical knowledge to increase their notoriety by playing the role of communication brokers supported by comments on work items.
URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1627-1_19(link is external)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1627-1_19(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras: open source, expertise, Knowledge flows, SNA
Links: https://flosshub.org/content/knowledge-flows-within-open-source-software-projects-social-network-perspective
Peripheral Developer Participation in Open Source Projects: An Empirical Analysis
https://flosshub.org/content/peripheral-developer-participation-open-source-projects-empirical-analysis
Year of Publication 2016
Authors Krishnamurthy, R, Jacob, V, Radhakrishnan, S, Dogan, K
Secondary Title ACM Trans. Manage. Inf. Syst.
Keywords Code ownership, open source software, project management, software metrics
Abstract: The success of the Open Source model of software development depends on the voluntary participation of external developers (the peripheral developers), a group that can have distinct motivations from that of project founders (the core developers). In this study, we examine peripheral developer participation by empirically examining approximately 2,600 open source projects. In particular, we hypothesize that peripheral developer participation is higher when the potential for building reputation by gaining recognition from project stakeholders is higher. We consider recognition by internal stakeholders (such as core developers) and external stakeholders (such as end-users and peers). We find a positive association between peripheral developer participation and the potential of stakeholder recognition after controlling for bug reports, feature requests, and other key factors. Our findings provide important insights for OSS founders and corporate managers for open sourcing or OSS adoption decisions.
URL http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2820618(link is external)
DOI 10.1145/2820618(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras: project management, open source software, software metrics, Code ownership
Links: https://flosshub.org/content/peripheral-developer-participation-open-source-projects-empirical-analysis
From Individual Contribution to Group Learning
Links: https://flosshub.org/content/individual-contribution-group-learning
Publication Type: Conference Paper
Year of Publication 2006
Authors Annabi, H, Crowston, K, Heckman, R
Secondary Title OSS2006: Open Source Systems (IFIP 2.13)
Pagination 77 - 90
Keywords: apache, case study
Abstract: Open Source Software (OSS) groups experience many benefits and challenges with respect to the core group’s effectiveness. In order to capitalize on the benefits and minimize the challenges, OSS groups must learn not only on the individual level, but also on the group level. OSS groups learn by integrating individual contributions into the group’s product and processes. This paper reports on the characteristics of the learning process in OSS groups. The study utilized an embedded single case study design that observed and analyzed group learning processes in the Apache Web server OSS project. The study used learning opportunity episodes (LOE) as the embedded unit of analysis and developed and utilized three content analytic schemes to describe the characteristics of the learning process and the factors affecting this process.
Links: https://flosshub.org/content/individual-contribution-group-learning
The allocation of collaborative efforts in open-source software
https://flosshub.org/content/allocation-collaborative-efforts-open-source-software
Year of Publication 2008
Authors den Besten, M, Dalle, J-M, Galia, F
Secondary Title Information Economics and Policy
Keywords: age, apache, complexity, cvs, division of labor, functions, gaim, gcc, ghostscript, lines of code, loc, log files, mozilla, netbsd, openssh, postgresql, python, revision control, scm, size, source code, Stigmergy, version control
Abstract: The article investigates the allocation of collaborative efforts among core developers (maintainers) of open-source software by analyzing on-line development traces (logs) for a set of 10 large projects. Specifically, we investigate whether the division of labor within open-source projects is influenced by characteristics of software code. We suggest that the collaboration among maintainers tends to be influenced by different measures of code complexity. We interpret these findings by providing preliminary evidence that the organization of open-source software development would self-adapt to characteristics of the code base, in a 'stigmergic' manner.
Notes;"we have selected a set of 10 large open-source projects"
apache, cvs, gaim, gcc, ghostscript, mozilla, netbsd, openssh, postgresql, python
"Our data were extracted from logs of development activity generated by software version control systems. For each project in the selection, we extracted CVS development logs"
"We notably computed for each file in the sample, and for each month in its history, the number of distinct maintainers that had committed a change during that month, and the number of commits, the blocks of code addition, each file had received during that month."
"other variables used in the regressions are proxies for the size, age, and granularity of files; the size of a file is represented as its number of lines of code (LOCs), its age by its creation date (Youth), and its granularity by the number of functions it contains."
URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V8J-4SSG4PN-1/2/88b3824c30a31c18929d8a5ca6d64f62(link is external)
DOI 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2008.06.003(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras: Mozilla, source code, scm, cvs, apache, version control, log files, python, revision control, postgres. , gcc
functions, sizecomplexity, loc, lines of code, netbsd, openssh, age, Stigmergy, division of labor, gaim, ghostscript
Links: https://flosshub.org/content/allocation-collaborative-efforts-open-source-software
Learning and knowledge in FLOSS - Situated learning and organizational knowledge-conversion in community-based free/libre open source software development
https://flosshub.org/337
Year of Publication 2006
Authors Bolstad, SH
<br
Abstract: In free/libre open source software development (FLOSS), groups of developers and users working in geographically dispersed settings are supported by a dense network of interactions. The participants are highly skilled in the use of information- and communication technologies, and build the software by relying on extensive peer production and through skillful use of communication tools available on the Internet. In building the software, explicit, formal and structured knowledge in the form of documents, objects, machines and external sources are communicated and stored in ways that make it available for others in the present and future. This knowledge make up an important resource for the members and developers of the community. Another kind, or aspect, of knowledge, often called tacit or soft knowledge, is informal, unstructured, resides in people, and are difficult, or maybe impossible, to articulate. The questions guiding this research is how knowledge, both explicit and tacit, is shared, and how a new member is able take part in the practice and knowledge of the community. The theory of legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice describes an environment for people to develop knowledge through interaction with others in an environment where knowledge is created, nurtured and sustained. By taking part in the practice as a participant observer, through virtual ethnography, the author describes the practice and communication in this decentralized and knowledge-intensive process. Taking it a step further, the knowledge of the community, and how it is shared within the ???organization???, is explored with a model for managing dynamic aspects of organizational knowledge-creation. The central theme here is that knowledge is created through a continuous dialogue between tacit and explicit knowledge. Logs from Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and interviews with core developers are analyzed, and the author argues that the Plone community is able to share both kinds of knowledge in a complex web of resources and interaction. The analysis further suggest that the FLOSS development-model facilitates access, transparency and participation on premisses that are important for learning.
https://flosshub.org/337
Understanding consumers' collective action on the Internet - a definition and discussion of relevant concepts for research https://flosshub.org/141 Year of Publication 2004 Authors Hemetsberger, A Date Published February Abstract: This paper offers a new approach for understanding online collaboration and collective action of 'prosumers'. It is proposed here that theories of collective action and social representations theory, in particular, provide a theoretical framework for studying the structural and social context of online collaboration of consumers, the social actors involved, and how public discourse contributes to shared meaning creation and dissemination in online communities. Processes of naming, classifying, personalizing and institutionalization give their actions ontological reality and contribute to the sustainability of the common effort. An overview and definition of these processes and relevant influencing factors is given and possible indicators of these concepts in open-source communities are highlighted. Link: https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/hemetsberger3.pdf https://flosshub.org/141
Fostering cooperation on the Internet: social exchange processes in innovative virtual consumer communities Link: https://flosshub.org/140 Year of Publication 2004 Authors Hemetsberger, A Date Published February Abstract: Virtual communities of consumers increasingly engage in voluntary collaborative production of digital goods and services which became highly successful in recent years. This paper offers a theoretical conceptualization and empirical evidence of the key elements and processes of exchange in those communities. Within a culture of gift-giving and generalized social exchange, knowledge as the main resource of the community is multiplied by giving it away freely to others and thus, fosters contribution behavior. Friendship, peer reputation and external feed-back provided by a global user community represent highly motivating social rewards which, combined with individual gain of knowledge, constitute a self-sustaining system of exchange. Link: https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/hemetsberger2.pdf https://flosshub.org/140
When Consumers Produce on the Internet: The Relationship between Cognitive-affective, Socially-based, and Behavioral Involvement of Prosumers https://flosshub.org/139 Year of Publication 2004 Authors Hemetsberger, A Date Published February Abstract: This article advances our understanding of the motivational sources for consumer involvement in online joint innovation. The 'free' or 'open-source' software movement is the largest socio-technical network and most visible empirical evidence of this new phenomenon. The paper promotes a behavioral view of involvement and offers a conceptualization and empirical evidence of the relationship between cognitive-affective, socially-based and behavioral involvement in online joint production. An Internet survey with 1486 contributors to open-source software revealed that the extent of behavioral involvement is strongly related to the structure and strength of relationships between different motivations. The relationship between concern for self and concern for others especially distinguishes the level of contribution to online projects. PDF icon hemetsberger1.pdf 232.96 KB https://flosshub.org/139
Sharing and Creating Knowledge in Open-Source Communities The case of KDE
Link; https://flosshub.org/142
Year of Publication 2004
Authors Hemetsberger, A
Abstract: Our research suggests that knowledge is shared and created in online communities of practice through the establishment of processes and 'technologies' that enable virtual re-experience for the learners at various levels. It demonstrates that online communities of practice overcome the problem of tacit knowledge transformation through the usage of technological tools, task-related features, analogies and usage scenarios. Three questions guided our research. The first one concentrates on how community members organize content with regard to their daily routines that potentially transforms into knowledge for other members. Secondly, as open-source communities depend on attracting and socializing new members, we inquired how new members are enabled to accumulate the knowledge necessary for becoming a valued member. Thirdly, we asked how members co-create and conceptualize new ideas - create new knowledge - in absence of physical proximity. Re-experience is enabled by modular tasks and transactive group memory, rigid guidance of new members, openness and legitimate peripheral participation, asynchronous communication, and virtual experimentation. Empirical evidence is based on an ethnographic investigation of the KDE project community.
Links: https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/hemreinh.pdf
https://flosshub.org/142
Managing Information Quality in Virtual Communities of Practice https://flosshub.org/31 Year of Publication 2001 Authors Neus, A Date Published November Abstract: In this paper we review how the new economics of information enable a new paradigm of collaboration. Spearheaded by the Open Source community, this evolutionary approach to collaborative content creation is a way to address information quality in virtual communities of practice. Based on experience gained in community projects, a few simple steps toward improving the quality of information in virtual communities are presented and illustrated. Links: https://flosshub.org/31
Understanding Sustained Participation in Open Source Software Projects
Link: https://flosshub.org/content/understanding-sustained-participation-open-source-software-projects
Year of Publication 2009
Authors Fang, Y, Neufeld, D
Pagination 9–50
Publisher M. E. Sharpe, Inc.
Place Published Armonk, NY, USA
ISSN Number 0742-1222
Keywords Communities Of Practice, Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Open Source Projects, Open Source Software Community, Qualitative Study
Abstract: Prior research into open source software (OSS) developer participation has emphasized individuals' motivations for joining these volunteer communities, but it has failed to explain why people stay or leave in the long run. Building upon Lave and Wenger's theory of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP), this paper offers a longitudinal investigation of one OSS community in which sustained participation is hypothesized to be associated with the coevolution of two major elements of LPP theory: "situated learning" (the process of acting knowledgeably and purposefully in the world) and "identity construction" (the process of being identified within the community). To test this hypothesis, data were collected from multiple sources, including online public project documents, electronic mail messages, tracker messages, and log files. Results from qualitative analyses revealed that initial conditions to participate did not effectively predict long-term participation, but that situated learning and identity construction behaviors were positively linked to sustained participation. Furthermore, this study reveals that sustained participants distinguished themselves by consistently engaging in situated learning that both made conceptual (advising others) and practical contributions (improving the code). Implications and future research are discussed.
URL http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1554441.1554443(link is external)
DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222250401(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras:
Communities Of Practice
Legitimate Peripheral Participation
Open Source Projects
Open Source Software Community
Qualitative Study
Link: https://flosshub.org/content/understanding-sustained-participation-open-source-software-projects
The Architecture of Generativity in a Digital Ecosystem: A Network Biology Perspective Link to full text: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f7e5/1bff566386640a42845451e4524c85d990b7.pdf Authors: SungYong Um Fox School of Business, Temple University, 1810 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA sungyong.um@temple.edu Youngjin Yoo Fox School of Business, Temple University, 1810 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA youngjin.yoo@temple.edu Sunil Wattal Fox School of Business, Temple University, 1810 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA swattal@temple.edu Rob J. Kulathinal Department of Biology, Temple University, 1990 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA robkulathinal@temple.edu Bin Zhang Fox School of Business, Temple University, 1810 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA bzhang@temple.edu Abstract: Firms are increasingly relying on third-party developers to innovate by building open digital: ecosystems. We draw on a network biology approach to explore the structural pattern of how individual modules in a digital ecosystem interact with one another to produce an ever-evolving ecosystem landscape. We perform an empirical study of WordPress.org, the world’s largest blog service platform. Using text mining and network analyses, we extract API (Application Programming Interfaces) used in... end of cit
The Evolution of Digital Ecosystems: A Case of WordPress from 2004 to 2014 full text: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/93a4/c28907af1015c55dd70e390e0e64b8dbe882.pdf SungYong Um Fox School of Business, Temple University, 1810 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA sungyong.um@temple.edu Youngjin Yoo Fox School of Business, Temple University, 1810 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA youngjin.yoo@temple.edu Sunil Wattal Fox School of Business, Temple University, 1810 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA swattal@temple.edu
A Business Ecology Perspective on Community-Driven Open Source: The Case of the Free and Open Source Content Management System Joomla published: 25. Januar 2019 Autor: Markus Radits http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1265888&dswid=-61 Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Industrial Economics. Linköping University, Faculty of Science & Engineering. 2019 (English) Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other academic)
Effective work practices for Free and Open Source Software development and Investigating the Dynamics of Free/Libre Open Source Software Development Teams Supported by NSF Grants 03-41475, 04–14468, 05-27457 and 07–08437
We are studying the following general research questions:
- What practices make some distributed work teams more effective than others?
- How are these practices developed?
- What are the dynamics through which self-organizing distributed teams develop and work?
An actor-network approach to coordination in Open Source Software 2.0
https://floss.syr.edu/node/864
Publication Type: Unpublished
Authors: Sangseok You; Kevin Crowston; Jeffery Saltz; Yatish Hegde
Source: Syracuse University School of Information Studies, Syracuse, NY (2020)
Abstract: Open source software is increasingly driven by a combination of independent and professional developers, the former volunteers and the later hired by a software company to contribute to the project to support commercial product development. This mix of developers has been referred to as OSS 2.0. However, we do not fully understand the coordination spanning individuals, teams, and organizations in OSS 2.0. Using Actor-Network Theory (ANT), we describe how coordination and power dynamics unfold and how technological artifacts both display actions and mediate coordination efforts. Internal coordination within an organization was reported to create competing networks against the network for the whole OSS community by breaking the alignments of interests. ANT shows how software development tools and code, as active actors, exercise agency in attracting developers to work on problems and informing the layers of collaboration. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the changing nature of OSS.
full text: https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Coordination%20in%20OSS%202.0%20Kevin%20Upload.pdf
Documentation and Access to Knowledge in Online Communities: Know Your Audience and Write Appropriately?
Publication Type: Journal Article
Authors: Carsten Østerlund; Kevin Crowston
Source: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Volume 70, Issue 6, p.619–633 (2019)
Abstract: Virtual collaborations bring together people who must work together despite having varied access to and understanding of the work at hand. In many cases, the collaboration is technology supported, meaning that the work is done through shared documents of various kinds. We develop a framework articulating the characteristics of documents supporting collaborators with asymmetric access to knowledge versus those with symmetric access to knowledge. Drawing on theories about document genre, boundary objects, and provenance, we hypothesize that documents supporting asymmetric collaborators are likely to articulate or prescribe their own (1) purpose, (2) context of use, (3) content and form, and (4) provenance in greater detail than documents supporting symmetric collaborators. We explore these hypotheses through content analysis of documents and instructions from a variety of free/libre open source projects (FLOSS). We present findings consistent with the hypotheses developed as well as results extending beyond our theory-derived assumptions. As participants gradually gain access to knowledge, the study suggests, prescriptions about the content of documents become less important compared to prescriptions about the context, provenance, and process of work. The study suggests new directions for research on communications in virtual collaborations, as well as advice for those supporting such collaborations.
full text: https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Osterlund-Crowston_2019_Document%20and%20access%20to%20knowledge%20in%20online%20communities_JASIST.pdf
Core-periphery communication and the success of free/libre open source software projects
https://floss.syr.edu/node/660
Publication Type:Journal Article
Authors: Kevin Crowston; Shamshurin, Ivan
Source: Journal of Internet Services and Applications, Volume 8, Issue 10 (2017)
URL: http://rdcu.be/uguP
Keywords: Apache Software Foundation, communication, core and periphery, free/libre open source software (FLOSS), inclusive pronouns, natural language processing, project success
Abstract: We examine the relationship between communications by core and peripheral members and Free/Libre Open Source Software project success. The study uses data from 74 projects in the Apache Software Foundation Incubator. We conceptualize project success in terms of success building a community, as assessed by graduation from the Incubator. We compare successful and unsuccessful projects on volume of communication and on use of inclusive pronouns as an indication of efforts to create intimacy among team members. An innovation of the paper is that use of inclusive pronouns is measured using natural language processing techniques. We also compare the volume and content of communication produced by core (committer) and peripheral members and by those peripheral members who are later elected to be core members. We find that volume of communication is related to project success but use of inclusive pronouns does not distinguish successful projects. Core members exhibit more contribution and use of inclusive pronouns than peripheral members.
full text: https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/170707%20JISA%20final.pdf
Authors De Souza, C, Froehlich, J, Dourish, P Seeking the Source: Software Source Code as a Social and Technical Artifact
Link: https://flosshub.org/232
In distributed software development, two sorts of dependencies can arise. The structure of the software system itself can create dependencies between software elements, while the structure of the development process can create dependencies between software developers. Each of these both shapes and reflects the development process. Our research concerns the extent to which, by looking uniformly at artifacts and activities, we can uncover the structures of software projects, and the ways in which development processes are inscribed into software artifacts.
Publication Type: Thesis
Year of Publication 2016
Authors Nasserifar, J
Date Published 05/2016
Place Published University of Oulu
Understanding Sustained Participation in Open Source Software Projects
Link: URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305994372_Open_Source_Software_Ecosystem_A_Systematic
DOI 10.13140/RG.2.1.2254.104
Authors Fang, Y, Neufeld, D:
Link: https://flosshub.org/content/understanding-sustained-participation-open-source-software-projects
Keywords:Communities Of Practice, Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Open Source Projects, Open
Source Software Community, Qualitative Study;
Prior research into open source software (OSS) developer participation has emphasized individuals' motivations for joining these volunteer communities, but it has failed to explain why people stay or leave in the long run. Building upon Lave and Wenger's theory of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP), this paper offers a longitudinal investigation of one OSS community in which sustained participation is hypothesized to be associated with the coevolution of two major elements of LPP theory: "situated learning" (the process of acting knowledgeably and purposefully in the world) and "identity construction"
Taxonomy upgrade extras:
Communities Of Practice
Legitimate Peripheral Participation
Open Source Projects
Open Source Software Community
Qualitative Study
Authors: Huang, S-K, Liu, K-min: Mining version histories to verify the learning process of Legitimate Peripheral Participants
https://flosshub.org/content/mining-version-histories-verify-learning-process-legitimate-peripheral-participants
In the past, groups of developers and modules have been partitioned naturally with informal criteria. In this work, however, we propose a developer-module relationship model to analyze the grouping structures between developers and modules. Our results show some process cases of relative importance on the constructed graph of project development. The graph reveals certain subtle relationships in the interactions between core and non-core team developers, and the interfaces between kernel and non-kernel modules.
Keywords awstats, bzflag, cvs, filezilla, gallery, Legitimate Peripheral Participants (LPP), moodle, open boundary, open source software development process, phpmyadmin, social networks, sourceforge, Legitimate Peripheral Participants (LPP), open boundary, open source software development process, awstats
Designing for Participation: Three Models for Developer Involvement in Hybrid OSS Projects
Submitted by msquire on Tue, 2017-05-16 09:46
Authors: Mäenpää, H, Kilamo, T, Mikkonen, T, Männistö, T
Secondary Title Open Source Systems: Towards Robust Practices 13th International Conference on Open Source Systems
This paper reports governance practices of three profit oriented companies that develop OSS software with the help of their respective open development communities. We explore how the companies allow development contributions from external stakeholders, and what knowledge they let out of their internal software development activities. The results lay ground for further research on how to organize openness of the software development process in hybrid setups where the needs of different stakeholders are partly competing - yet complementary.
Link: https://flosshub.org/content/designing-participation-three-models-developer-involvement-hybrid-oss-projects
Taxonomy upgrade extras:
open source
Community Management
Hybrid open source
Knowledge Flows Within Open Source Software Projects: A Social Network Perspective
Authors Kerzazi, N, El Asri, I
Secondary Authors El-Azouzi, R, Menasche, DS, Sabir, E, De Pellegrini, F, Benjillali, M
Secondary Title Advances in Ubiquitous Networking 2: Proceedings of the UNet'16
Keywords: expertise, Knowledge flows, open source, SNA
AbstractDeveloping software is knowledge-intensive activity, requiring extensive technical knowledge and awareness. The abstract part of development is the social interactions that drive knowledge flows between contributors, especially for Open Source Software (OSS). This study investigated knowledge sharing and propagation from social perspective using social network analysis (SNA). We mined and analyzed the issue and review histories of three OSS from GitHub. Particular attention has been paid to the socio-interactions through comments from contributors on reviews. We aim at explaining the propagation and density of knowledge flows within contributor networks. The results show that review requests flow from the core contributors toward peripheral contributors and comments on reviews are in a continuous loop from the core teams to the peripherals and back; and the core contributors leverage on their awareness and technical knowledge to increase their notoriety by playing the role of communication brokers supported by comments on work items.
Taxonomy upgrade extras:
open source
expertise
Knowledge flows
SNA
Managing knowledge sharing in distributed innovation from the perspective of developers: empirical study of open source software projects in China
Submitted by msquire on Wed, 2017-04-05 21:17
Title Managing knowledge sharing in distributed innovation from the perspective of developers: empirical study of open source software projects in China
Publication Type: Journal Article
Year of Publication 2017
Authors Chen, X, Zhou, Y, Probert, D, Su, J
Secondary Title Technology Analysis & Strategic Management
Volume 2929143029
Issue 11721
Pagination 1 - 22
Date Published 01/2017
ISSN Number 1465-3990
Keywords: Distributed innovation, knowledge sharing, performance of OSS projects, user innovation
Abstract: Knowledge sharing is the key factor that influences the performance of open source software (OSS) projects, which are the representative cases of distributed innovation. This paper aims to explore the mechanism of knowledge sharing in OSS projects from the perspective of developers in China. A quantitative method with the analysis of 403 valid questionnaires is adopted. A series of hypotheses about how distributed innovation (independent variables) influences knowledge sharing (mediating variable) and then affects the performance of OSS projects (dependent variable) are tested and approved. On the one side, we argue that developers will actively affect knowledge sharing in terms of participative motivation, social network and organisational culture. On the other hand, users may also affect the knowledge sharing when considering innovation willingness and capacity. It is interesting to find that social network is the most important factor in Chinese cases. It is strongly recommended to strengthen the collaboration between software companies and OSS communities.
DOI 10.1080/09537325.2016.1194387(link is external)
Short Title Technology Analysis & Strategic Management
Taxonomy upgrade extras:
knowledge sharing
Distributed innovation
performance of OSS projects
user innovation
Link:https://flosshub.org/content/managing-knowledge-sharing-distributed-innovation-perspective-developers-empirical-study-ope
Open Source Communities as Liminal Ecosystems
Submitted by msquire on Mon, 2017-07-31 10:49
Title Open Source Communities as Liminal Ecosystems
Publication Type Conference Proceedings
Year of Publication 2017
Authors Lumbard, K, Germonprez, M
Secondary Title 12th Midwest Association for Information Systems Conference (MWAIS 2017)
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a study to explore the movement of individuals engaged in open source communities. Although there is extensive literature on open source communities and growing body of knowledge on corporate engagement in open source communities, our understanding of the movements of individuals within these communities is limited. To analyze these movements, we build on Arnold Van Gennep and Victor Turners’ theories on liminality. Through this lens, we build an understanding of the movements of individual members within open source communities.
Link:https://flosshub.org/content/open-source-communities-liminal-ecosystems
https://aisel.aisnet.org/mwais2017/45/
Core-Periphery Communication and the Success of Free/Libre Open Source Software Projects
Publication Type Book Chapter
Year of Publication 2016
Authors Crowston, K, Shamshurin, I
Secondary Authors Crowston, K, Hammouda, I, Lundell, B, Robles, G, Gamalielsson, J, Lindman, J
Secondary Title Open Source Systems: Integrating Communities: 12th IFIP WG 2.13 International Conference, OSS 2016, Gothenburg, Sweden, May 30 - June 2, 2016, Proceedings
Pagination 45–56
Publisher Springer International Publishing
Place Published Cham
ISBN Number 978-3-319-39225-7
Abstract: We examine the relationship between communications by core and peripheral members and Free/Libre Open Source Software project success. The study uses data from 74 projects in the Apache Software Foundation Incubator. We conceptualize project success in terms of success building a community, as assessed by graduation from the Incubator. We compare successful and unsuccessful projects on volume of communication by core (committer) and peripheral community members and on use of inclusive pronouns as an indication of efforts to create intimacy among team members. An innovation of the paper is that use of inclusive pronouns is measured using natural language processing techniques. We find that core and peripheral members differ in their volume of contribution and in their use of inclusive pronouns, and that volume of communication is related to project success.
Link:https://flosshub.org/content/core-periphery-communication-and-success-freelibre-open-source-software-projects
Peripheral Developer Participation in Open Source Projects: An Empirical Analysis
Submitted by msquire on Wed, 2016-04-06 14:37
Title Peripheral Developer Participation in Open Source Projects: An Empirical Analysis
Publication Type Journal Article
Year of Publication 2016
Authors: Krishnamurthy, R, Jacob, V, Radhakrishnan, S, Dogan, K
Secondary Title ACM Trans. Manage. Inf. Syst.
Volume 6
Number 4
Pagination 14:1–14:31
Publisher ACM
Place Published New York, NY, USA
ISSN Number 2158-656X
Keywords Code ownership, open source software, project management, software metrics
Abstract: The success of the Open Source model of software development depends on the voluntary participation of external developers (the peripheral developers),....we examine peripheral developer participation by empirically examining approximately 2,600 open source projects. In particular, we hypothesize that peripheral developer participation is higher when the potential for building reputation by gaining recognition from project stakeholders is higher. We consider recognition by internal stakeholders (such as core developers) and external stakeholders (such as end-users and peers). We find a positive association between peripheral developer participation and the potential of stakeholder recognition.
DOI 10.1145/2820618(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras:
project management
open source software
software metrics
Code ownership
link: https://flosshub.org/content/peripheral-developer-participation-open-source-projects-empirical-analysis
The Role of Local Open Source Communities in the Development of Open Source Projects
Submitted by msquire on Mon, 2016-05-30 17:09
Title The Role of Local Open Source Communities in the Development of Open Source Projects
Publication Type Book Chapter
Year of Publication 2016
Authors: Abdulwahhab, S, Alabady, Y, Sattar, Y, Hammouda, I
Secondary Authors Crowston, K, Hammouda, I, Lundell, B, Robles, G, Gamalielsson, J, Lindman, J
Secondary Title Open Source Systems: Integrating Communities: 12th IFIP WG 2.13 International Conference, OSS 2016, Gothenburg, Sweden, May 30 - June 2, 2016, Proceedings
Chapter The Role of Local Open Source Communities in the Development of Open Source Projects
Pagination 3–15
Publisher Springer International Publishing
Place Published Cham
ISBN Number: 978-3-319-39225-7
Abstract: The qualitative investigation consisted of ten semi-structured interviews with members within different LOSCs. The results confirm the importance of LOSCs and the pivotal role they play in the development of OSPs. In many cases, they act as the middleman between individual members and the project’s global community. However, LOSCs have their own kinds of challenges.
URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39225-7_1(link is external)
Link: https://flosshub.org/content/role-local-open-source-communities-development-open-source-projects
On the role of FOSS business models and participation architectures in supporting open innovation
Submitted by msquire on Tue, 2015-09-15 11:12; Title: On the role of FOSS business models and participation architectures in supporting open innovation
Publication Type Report
Year of Publication 2015
Authors: Purcell, MW
Secondary Title OpenSym 2015, the 11th International Symposium on Open Collaboration
Date Published 08/2015
Abstract: Most research regarding innovation in free and open source software (FOSS) pertains to identifying supporting conditions for promoting code contribution. This raises concerns about the ability of FOSS communities to remain innovative based only on the perspectives of developer-users. Preliminary research suggests different open source business models may provide motivation to support greater involvement of non-developer users.
Links:http://www.opensym.org/os2015/proceedings-files/c102-purcell.pdf and https://flosshub.org/content/should-we-move-stack-overflow-measuring-utility-social-media-developer-support
Discourses on User Participation
Submitted by msquire on Fri, 2012-03-02 09:18
Title Discourses on User Participation
Publication Type Journal Article
Year of Publication 2009
Authors Iivari, N
Refereed Designation Refereed
Secondary Title International Journal of Open Source Software and Processes
Abstract: Users should participate in information technology (IT) artifact development, but it has proven to be challenging. This applies also in the open source software (OSS) development. This chapter critically examines discursive construction of user participation in academic literatures and in practice, in IT artifact development. First three academic discourses constructing user participation are discussed. Then the discursive construction of user participation is explored in OSS development literature. Afterwards, results from several empirical, interpretive case studies are outlined. Some of them have been carried out in the IT artifact product development organizations, others in the OSS development context. Clear similarities can be identified in the discourses constructing user participation in these divergent IT artifact development contexts. The academic discourses on user participation clearly also legitimate certain ways of constructing user participation in practice. The OSS development literature bears resemblance mainly with the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) discourse on user participation. Therefore, it is argued that especially the HCI community should carefully reflect on what kinds of discourses on user participation it advocates and deems as legitimate.
Link:https://flosshub.org/content/discourses-user-participation
Flat for the few, steep for the many: Structural cohesion as a measure of hierarchy in FLOSS communities Submitted by msquire on Sat, 2011-04-30 15:13
Title Flat for the few, steep for the many: Structural cohesion as a measure of hierarchy in FLOSS communities
Publication Type Conference Paper
Year of Publication 2009
Authors: Conaldi, G
Secondary Title 4th Workshop on Public Data about Software Development (WoPDaSD 2009)
Date Published 2009
Keywords case study, email, email archives, epiphany, gnome, mailing list, social network analysis
Abstract: A discrepancy exists between the emphasis posed by practitioners on decentralized and non-hierarchical communication in Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities and empirical evidence of their hierarchical structure. In order to explain this apparent paradox it is here hypothesized that in FLOSS communities local sub-groups exist and are less hierarchical, more decentralized than the whole social network to which they belong. A measure of structural cohesion based on network node connectivity is proposed as an effective method to test whether FLOSS communication networks can be decomposed in nested hierarchies of progressively less centralized sub-groups. Preliminary results from a case study that are consistent with the hypothesis are presented and discussed.
Full Text. Link: https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/guido-conaldi-flat-for-the-few.pdf and https://flosshub.org/content/flat-few-steep-many-structural-cohesion-measure-hierarchy-floss-communities
Understanding Sustained Participation in Open Source Software Projects
Submitted by msquire on Thu, 2011-04-21 15:40
Title Understanding Sustained Participation in Open Source Software Projects
Publication Type Journal Article
Year of Publication 2009
Authors: Fang, Y, Neufeld, D
Secondary Title J. Manage. Inf. Syst.
Volume 25
Pagination 9–50
Date Published April
Publisher M. E. Sharpe, Inc.
Place Published Armonk, NY, USA
ISSN Number 0742-1222
Keywords Communities Of Practice, Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Open Source Projects, Open Source Software Community, Qualitative Study
Abstract: Prior research into open source software (OSS) developer participation has emphasized individuals' motivations for joining these volunteer communities, but it has failed to explain why people stay or leave in the long run. Building upon Lave and Wenger's theory of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP), this paper offers a longitudinal investigation of one OSS community in which sustained participation is hypothesized to be associated with the coevolution of two major elements of LPP theory: "situated learning" (the process of acting knowledgeably and purposefully in the world) and "identity construction" (the process of being identified within the community). To test this hypothesis, data were collected from multiple sources, including online public project documents, electronic mail messages, tracker messages, and log files. Results from qualitative analyses revealed that initial conditions to participate did not effectively predict long-term participation, but that situated learning and identity construction behaviors were positively linked to sustained participation. Furthermore, this study reveals that sustained participants distinguished themselves by consistently engaging in situated learning that both made conceptual (advising others) and practical contributions (improving the code). Implications and future research are discussed.
Link:URL http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1554441.1554443
DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222250401(link is external)
Taxonomy upgrade extras:
Communities Of Practice
Legitimate Peripheral Participation
Open Source Projects
Link: https://flosshub.org/content/understanding-sustained-participation-open-source-software-projectsOpen Source Software Community
Qualitative Study:https://flosshub.org/content/understanding-sustained-participation-open-source-software-projects
Open Source Communities as Liminal Ecosystems
https://flosshub.org/content/open-source-communities-liminal-ecosystems
Submitted by msquire on Mon, 2017-07-31 10:49
Title Open Source Communities as Liminal Ecosystems
Publication Type Conference Proceedings
Year of Publication 2017
Authors Lumbard, K, Germonprez, Mc