the mit press perspectives on free and open source software jun 2005

MD DALIM #800602 5/8/05 YELO CYAN TEAM LinG Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software [...]... analysts and organized them into five key perspectives on the topic These parts are: Part Part Part Part Part I Motivation in Free/ Open Source Software Development II The Evaluation of Free/ Open Source Software Development III Free/ Open Source Software Processes and Tools IV Free/ Open Source Software Economic and Business Models V Law, Community and Society Introduction xix Next, we describe each of these... address on Free Software a Model for Society?” on June 1, 2000, in Tutzing, Germany I Motivation in Free/ Open Source Software Development 1 Why Hackers Do What They Do: Understanding Motivation and Effort in Free/ Open Source Software Projects Karim R Lakhani and Robert G Wolf “What drives Free/ Open Source software (F/OSS) developers to contribute their time and effort to the creation of free software. .. language, and the OpenOffice productivity suite are all well-known examples of this kind of software More detailed, formal definitions for the terms free and open source are maintained and vigilantly watch-dogged—by the Free Software Foundation (FSF)1 and Open Source Initiative (OSI).2 However, the definitions are substantively identical, and the decision to use one of these terms rather than the other is... molded and to help understand how collective identity is created and communicated Understanding these discursive practices is especially important because of the decentralized and networked character of the OSS movement The construction of the hacker is discussed, and the tensions between the Free Software and Open Source movements are analyzed They further analyze “us” versus “them” constructions in the. .. next-generation applications (the killer apps of the Internet, like Google) that “we can begin to understand the true long-term significance of the open source paradigm shift.” More to the point, O’Reilly asserts that if we are to benefit from the revolution,” our understanding must penetrate the “foreground elements of the free and open source movements” and instead focus on its causes and consequences Rigor and. .. without their passion for scholarship and research Special thanks to Lorraine Morgan and Carol Ryan for their help with preparing the manuscript Most of all, we are grateful to the individuals, communities, and firms that constitute the free and open source software movements Their innovations have challenged our “common knowledge” of software engineering, of organizations and organizing, of the software. .. 1950s and that open source- like collaboration has led to many innovations and improvements in software products But, on the business side, most companies operate to make money and need some guarantee that they can make a return on investment by protecting their intellectual property To suggest that all software should be free and freely available makes no sense On the other hand, most software requires...Foreword As with other researchers and authors who study the software business and software engineering, I have had many opportunities to learn about free and open source software (FOSS) There is a lot to know, and I am especially pleased to see this volume of essays from MIT Press because it provides so much information—both quantitative and qualitative— on so many aspects of the open source movement... summaries of the chapters and suggesting key questions that the reader might bear in mind Part I: Motivation in Free/ Open Source Software Development Many first-time observers of the F/OSS phenomenon are startled by the simple fact that large numbers of highly skilled software developers (and users) dedicate tremendous amounts of time and effort to the creation, expansion, and ongoing maintenance of free ... program, test, and document xxiv Introduction Through the short history of rationalizing the process by which software engineering is, or should be, accomplished, the members of the SE community have reached a fairly common understanding of what software engineering is, and how software engineering should be done It is the apparent departure of free and open source software (F/OSS) from this understanding . CYAN TEAM LinG Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software