[Air-l] 4 new papers on opensource.mit.edu

[Karim R. Lakhani]

Hi ALl,

I have posted the following papers on the opensource.mit.edu website.

Thanks

Karim


Paper 1
Authors:
Baldwin, Carliss & Kim Clark

Title:
The Architecture of Cooperation: How Code Architecture Mitigates Free 
Riding in the Open Source Development Model
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/baldwinclark.pdf

Abstract:
We argue that the architecture of a codebase is a critical factor that 
lies at the heart of the open source development process. To support 
this argument, we define two observable properties of an architecture: 
(1) its modularity and (2) its option values. Developers can make 
informed judgments about modularity and option value from early code 
releases. Their judgments in turn will influence their decisions to work 
and to contribute their code back to the community. We go on to suggest 
that the core of the open source development process can be thought of 
as two linked games played within a codebase architecture. The first 
game involves the implicit exchange of effort directed at the modules 
and option values of a codebase; the second is a Prisoners' Dilemma game 
triggered by the irreducible costs of communicating. The implicit 
exchange of effort among developers is made possible by the the 
non-rivalrous nature of the codebase and by the modularity and option 
values of the codebase's architecture. This exchange creates value for 
all participants, both workers and free-riders. In contrast, the 
Prisoners' Dilemma is a problem that must be surmounted if the exchanges 
are to take place. It can be addressed through a combination of reducing 
the costs of communication, providing rewards, and encouraging repeated 
interactions. Finally, the initial design and "opening up" of a codebase 
can be seen as a rational move by an architect who is seeking to test 
the environment in hopes of initiating exchanges of effort with other 
developers.

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Paper 2:
Authors:
Crowston, Kevin, Annabi, Hala, & Howison, James
Title:
Defining Open Source Software Project Success
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/crowstonannabihowison.pdf

Abstract:
Information systems success is one of the most widely used dependent 
variables in information systems research. In this paper, we identify a 
range of measures that can be used to assess the success of open source 
software (OSS) projects. We identify measures based on a review of the 
literature, a consideration of the OSS development process and an 
analysis of the opinions of OSS developers. For each measure, we provide 
examples of how they might be used in a study of OSS development.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paper 3

Author:
Reagle, Joseph

Title:
Socialization in Open Technical Communities
http://reagle.org/joseph/2003/socialization/voluntary.html
Abstract:
While many definitions of openness focus on the character and licenses 
of the software products, relatively few directly address the character 
of the social organization that develops those products. This essay 
offers a definition of openness and considers how that characteristic 
affects the recruitment and socialization of newcomers to such 
organizations. The relevance of socialization is clear when one consider 
the growth of on-line communities, and precariousness of membership in 
voluntary organizations. I then suggest that "forking," a split of the 
communities, is integral to the definition of openness and a possible 
vector of communicating social norms between communities, and that a 
significant difference between open technical communities and some other 
open/voluntary communities is the internal orientation of status seeking 
within the community.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authors:
Bauer, Andreas & Markus Pizka

Title:
The Contribution of Free Software to Software Evolution

http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/bauerpizka.pdf

Abstract:
It is remarkable to think that even without any interest in finding 
suitable methods and concepts that would allow complex software systems 
to evolve and remain manageable, the ever growing open source movement 
has silently managed to establish highly successful evolution techniques 
over the last two decades. These concepts represent best practices that 
could be applied equally to a number of today’s most crucial problems 
concerning the evolution of complex commercial software systems. In this 
paper, the authors state and explain some of these principles from the 
perspective of experienced open source developers, and give the 
rationale as to why the highly dynamic free software development 
process, as a whole, is entangled with constantly growing code bases and 
changing project sizes, and how it deals with these successfully.
-- 
===============================================
Karim R. Lakhani
MIT Sloan School of Management
&
The Boston Consulting Group, Strategy Practice Initiative
e-mail: karim.lakhani at sloan.mit.edu | lakhani.karim at bcg.com
mobile:  617-851-1224
http://spoudaiospaizen.net/ | http://web.mit.edu/lakhani/www
http://opensource.mit.edu | http://userinnovation.mit.edu