170,566 research outputs found
Evolutionary success of open source software: An investigation into exogenous drivers
No full textCopyright @ 2007 EASSTThe “success” of a Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) project has often been evaluated through the number of commits made to its configuration management system, number of developers and number of users. Based on SourceForge, most studies have concluded that the vast majority of projects are failures. This paper argues that the relative success of a FLOSS project can depend also on the chosen forge and distribution. Given a random sample of 50 projects contained within a popular FLOSS forge (Debian, which is the basis of the successful Debian distribution), we compare these with a similar sample from SourceForge, using product and process metrics, such as size achieved and number of developers involved. The results show firstly that, depending on the forge of FLOSS projects, researchers can draw different conclusions regarding what constitutes a successful FLOSS project. Secondly, the projects included in the Debian distribution benefit, on average, from more evolutionary activity and more developers than the comparable projects on SourceForge. Finally, the Debian projects start to benefit from more activity and more developers from the point at which they join this distribution
Dynamics of Innovation in an “Open Source” Collaboration Environment: Lurking, Laboring and Launching FLOSS Projects on SourceForge
No full textA systems analysis perspective is adopted to examine the critical properties of the Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) mode of innovation, as reflected on the SourceForge platform (SF.net). This approach re-scales March’s (1991) framework and applies it to characterize the “innovation system” of a “distributed organization” of interacting agents in a virtual collaboration environment. The innovation system of the virtual collaboration environment is an emergent property of two “coupled” processes: one involves interactions among agents searching for information to use in designing novel software products, and the other involves the mobilization of individual capabilities for application in the software development projects. Micro-dynamics of this system are studied empirically by constructing transition probability matrices representing movements of 222,835 SF.net users among 7 different activity states. Estimated probabilities are found to form first-order Markov chains describing ergodic processes. This makes it possible to computate the equilibrium distribution of agents among the states, thereby suppressing transient effects and revealing persisting patterns of project-joining and project-launching.innovation systems, collaborative development environments, industrial districts, exploration and exploitation dynamics, open source software, FLOSS, SourceForge, project-joining, project-founding, Markov chain analysis.
Across The Great Divide
No full textFree Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is licensed to allow users the freedom to copy, reuse, study and develop the software. As a term which efficiently encompasses both ‘free software’ and ‘open-source’ models, FLOSS may offer music practitioners and researchers the opportunity to develop and use such software without becoming mired in a particular stance. In this article, parallels between FLOSS and experimental music are explored, with a view to highlighting their compatibility. Through reflection on the recent composition, recording and distribution of three text scores, this article examines how the application of a FLOSS framework may assist with such work in an academic setting and how FLOSS tools might be utilized in such settings in the future as they become more prevalent, more reliable and more stable
Floss firms, users and communities: a viable match?
No full textThe participation of firms in Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities is growing and is increasingly debated amongst scholars. As [41] explained, FLOSS needs profit and we do not know successfull floss products without firms in their ecosystem, either being via the financial support of foundations (Eclipse, Linux) or the commercial offering of products or services based on specific FLOSS products (SQL, RedHat). Various points of view have been proposed, but most of the time, scholars studied either the implication of firms within a community or the integration of floss into their market strategy, but not both. In this article, we plead for a more structured and global analysis, based on industrial economics tools, and thus starting from the basic conditions of the computer market and of the buyers' competence in software development (the 'dominant user's skill). This conceptual framework helps to distinguish the different roles (understood as 'social roles') firms may play in the FLOSS ecosystem and, specifically the variation in their involvement.'Free'/'libre' or 'open source' software, Industrial economics, dominant user's skill, firms' roles
From "community" to "commercial" FLOSS: The case of moodle
No full textThis is the post-print version of the final published article that is available from the link below. Copyright © 2010 ACM, Inc.This paper documents the evolution of Moodle, an advanced Content Management System, and its transition from a purely volunteer-based project to one driven by commercial interests and stakeholders. The study of its evolution provides evidence of the sustainability of its process: increasing amounts of provided effort by developers correspond to similarly increasing produced outputs to the Moodle system. It is also evident how this OSS system, apart from achieving the transition to a successful multisite, collaborative and community-based OSS project, depends more on its community than its commercial partners
The three dimensions of a communitarian institution. The Open Source Software Community Case
No full textThe analysis of the empirical studies relative to the Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) case highlights the necessity to enlarge the set of categories used to describe developers incentives. In particular, the evidences stress the important role played by another category of incentives, broadly and roughly defined as psychological and social motivations. However, the theories elaborated to cope with this dimension, such as ift economy,epistemic community or community of practice, are not combined into a unique structured framework. Each one of them, in fact, is focused on particular features of the FLOSS model, so that the FLOSS community itself is often described as ahybrid institution, obtained combining different perspectives. However, it is possible construct a mechanism here called reflexive identity able to bridge the analyzed theories and to explain the empirical evidences left aside by self-supply, reputation and signaling. The reflexive identity mechanism develops through the nexus of ties connecting the community members. In order to cooperate, members have to negotiate the system of meanings they use to interface with the world and with the communitarian environment. But this means reshaping also their own vision of the world, redefining their values and thus their identity. The space opened by the negotiation, then, is the space where community aims, principles and ethos act directly on membersidentity, making them internalize the communitarian structure of rules. The reflexive identity principle, then, merges the psychological and social dimension of the FLOSS phenomenon with the structure of rules adopted by the FLOSS community, and thus it constitutes together with self-supply, signaling, reputation and peer regard the basis upon which the FLOSS community is built.Open Source Software; FLOSS
Faculty Development for FLOSS Education
No full textPart 5: FLOSS Education and TrainingInternational audienceWith the recent upsurge in the development, use, and adoption of free/libre open source software (FLOSS) across all sectors of business, it is critical that graduates of computing degree programs gain an understanding of FLOSS development tools, processes, and culture. However, many faculty members are not fluent in FLOSS development and have little experience in teaching FLOSS. This paper reports on a faculty development program designed to bring instructors up to speed on how to support student learning within FLOSS projects. The paper discusses the challenges to FLOSS education from the instructor’s perspective, describes the Professors’ Open Source Software Experience (POSSE) workshop, and presents the results of a study into the impact of POSSE on instructors based on semi-structured interviews. This work is part of a larger study into instructor experiences when incorporating Humanitarian Free Open Source Software (HFOSS) into their curriculum
Biosynthesis of the antibiotic echinosporin by a novel branch of the shikimate pathway
No full textEchinosporin (1), a known antibiotic with a unique tricyclic acetal-lactone structure, is produced by Streptomyces erythraeus (strain Tu 4015), together with the novel 7-deoxy-echinosporin (2) as minor compound, which was fully characterized. The biosynthesis of I was established by feeding experiments with C-13-labelled precursors. The results revealed that I was formed by the shikimate pathway, with chorismate as a biosynthetic intermediate. The proposed mechanism for the conversion of chorismate into I represents a new branch of the shikimate pathway, producing a nonaromatic metabolite. In addition, the influence of aromatic amino acids and of glyphosate, an inhibitor in the shikimate pathway of plants, was investigated. (C) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2002
Biosynthesis of the antibiotic echinosporin by a novel branch of the shikimate pathway
No full textEchinosporin (1), a known antibiotic with a unique tricyclic acetal-lactone structure, is produced by Streptomyces erythraeus (strain Tu 4015), together with the novel 7-deoxy-echinosporin (2) as minor compound, which was fully characterized. The biosynthesis of I was established by feeding experiments with C-13-labelled precursors. The results revealed that I was formed by the shikimate pathway, with chorismate as a biosynthetic intermediate. The proposed mechanism for the conversion of chorismate into I represents a new branch of the shikimate pathway, producing a nonaromatic metabolite. In addition, the influence of aromatic amino acids and of glyphosate, an inhibitor in the shikimate pathway of plants, was investigated. (C) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2002
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