[Air-l] Updates to opensource.mit.edu: AQ commentary, 8 new papers, 2 Theses

Tue Nov 2 09:29:02 PST 2004

Hello All,

Well its democracy day today in the USA.  I am encouraging all my American friends to go out and vote.  Meanwhile I have caught up with all the submissions to our website over the last month.  First, thanks to the valiant efforts of Chris Kelty and Biella Coleman, the Anthropological Quarterly has agreed to release their Social Thought and Commentary on Culture's Open Source (Vol 77, No 3)under a Creative Commons License - and we have of course posted the contents on our website.

We also received eight new working papers, one PhD thesis and one masters thesis.  They are all below!  Enjoy!  Many thanks to all the members of our community to making this website so vibrant.  We now have 192 papers list.

Best

Karim

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Papers from Anthropological Quarterly (Vol 77, No 3) - Social Thought and Commentary: Culture's Open Source	
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/aq_cultures_opensources.pdf

Editor: Christopher M. Kelty

Listing of papers: 
Christopher M. Kelty | Culture's Open Sources: Software, Copyright, and Cultural Critique 
Gabriella Coleman | The Political Agnosticism of Free and Open Source Software and the Inadvertent Politics of Contrast
Alex Golub | Copyright and Taboo 
Anita Chan | Coding Free Software, Coding Free States: Free Software Legislation and the Politics of Code in Peru
Christopher M. Kelty | Punt To Culture
Rosemary J. Coombe & Andrew Herman | Rhetorical Virtues: Property, Speech, and the Commons on the World-Wide Web
Glenn Otis Brown | Commentary 

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*Working Papers*
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Paper 1
Authors:
Dalle, Jean-Michel & Paul A. David

Title
SimCode: Agent-based Simulation Modelling of Open-Source Software Development
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/dalledavid2.pdf

Abstract:
We present an original modeling tool, which can be used to study the mechanisms by which free/libre and open source software developers' code-writing efforts are allocated within open source projects. It is first described analytically in a discrete choice framework, and then simulated using agent-based experiments. Contributions are added sequentially to either existing modules, or to create new modules out of existing ones: as a consequence, the global emerging architecture forms a hierarchical tree. Choices among modules reflect expectations of peer-regard, i.e. developers are more attracted a) to generic modules, b) to launching new ones, and c) to contributing their work to currently active development sites in the project. In this context, we are able - particularly by allowing for the attractiveness of "hot spots"-- to replicate the high degree of concentration (measured by Gini coefficients) in the distributions of modules sizes. The latter have been found by empiric

al studies to be a characteristic typical of the code of large projects, such as the Linux kernel. 
Introducing further a simple social utility function for evaluating the mophology of "software trees," it turns out that the hypothesized developers' incentive structure that generates high Gini coefficients is not particularly conducive to producing self-organized software code that yields high utility to end-users who want a large and diverse range of applications. Allowing for a simple governance mechanism by the introduction of maintenance rules reveals that "early release" rules can have a positive effect on the social utility rating of the resulting software trees. 

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Paper 2
Authors:
Bitzer,Jurgen, Wolfram Schrettl & Philipp J.H. Schroder

Title:
Intrinsic Motivation in Open Source Software Development
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/bitzerschrettlschroder.pdf

Abstract:
This papers sheds light on the puzzling evidence that even though open source software (OSS) is a public good, it is developed for free by highly qualified, young and motivated individuals, and evolves at a rapid pace. We show that once OSS
development is understood as the private provision of a public good, these features emerge quite naturally. We adapt a 
dynamic private-provision-of-public-goods model to reflect key aspects of the OSS phenomenon. In particular, instead of 
relying on extrinsic motives for programmers (e.g. signaling) the present model is driven by intrinsic motives of OSS 
programmers, such as user-programmers, play value or homo ludens payoff, and gift culture benefits. Such intrinsic motives 
feature extensively in the wider OSS literature and contribute new insights to the economic analysis.

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Paper 3
Authors:
MacCormack,Alan, John Rusnak & Carliss Baldwin

Title:
Exploring the Structure of Complex Software Designs: An Empirical Study of Open Source and Proprietary Code
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/maccormackrusnakbaldwin.pdf

Abstract:
This paper reports data from a research project which seeks to characterize the differences in design structure between 
complex software products. In particular, we adopt a technique based upon Design Structure Matrices (DSMs) to map the 
dependencies between different elements of a design then develop metrics that allow us to compare the structures of these 
different DSMs. We demonstrate the power of this approach in two ways: First, we compare the design structures of two complex software products the Linux operating system and the Mozilla web browser that were developed via contrasting modes of organization: specifically, open source versus proprietary development. We find significant differences in their designs, consistent with an interpretation that Linux possesses a more modular architecture. We then track the evolution of Mozilla, paying particular attention to a major re-design effort that took place several months after its release as an open source product. We show that this effort resulted in a design structure that was significantly more modular than its predecessor,and indeed, more modular than that of a comparable version of Linux.

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Paper 4
Authors:
Giuri, Paola, Matteo Ploner, Francesco Rullani & Salvatore Torrisi

Title:
Skills and Openness of OSS Projects: implications for performance
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/giuri_etal.pdf

Abstract:
This paper is about open source software projects, activity and the characteristics of different categories of contributors. Our empirical analysis draws on a very large sample of OSS projects registered at the Sourceforge website. For each project we have access to information about individual contributors such as skills, roles, and tasks assigned. Key variables at the project level are the number of project members or internal contributors (i.e., people who have subscribed to the project),the number of external contributors (project openness), the overall skill combination of contributors, the number of different intended audiences (e.g., developers and end users), and various measures of activity (e.g., number of file releases, bugs and patches closed over time). We conduct a multinomial logit analysis to see whether skills? level, 
experience and variety of project members predict their role played in the project (e.g., developer or project manager). We 
then carry out an econometric analysis to estimate the contribution of skills and openness to projects' survival and 
activity. 

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Paper 5
Authors:
Coleman, Biella & Benjamin Mako Hill

Title:
How Free Become Open and Everything Else Under the Sun
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/colemanhill.pdf

Abstract:
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has been adopted as a political tool by leftist activists. At the same time, it has been embraced by large corporations to extend profits and has been criticized as an integral force in late capitalism. It has been adopted by members of the growing Commons movement as a model for limiting the power of capitalism. This essay attempts to confront the variability of these relationships through a cursory analysis of each field and through an look at FOSS philosophy and practice. It argues that Free Software exists as a politically agnostic field of practice--built on and 
through a broadly defined philosophy. It analyzes the way that this philosophy is well suited for the spread of FOSS 
technologies and its translation into the terms of radically different, even oppositional, social and political movements.

======================
Paper 6
Henkel, Joachim
Title:
Patterns of Free Revealing – Balancing Code Sharing and Protection in Commercial Open Source Development
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/henkel2.pdf

Abstract:
Commercial firms increasingly contribute to the development of open source software (OSS). However, a conflict often arises 
between the requirements of the General Public License to make "derived work" available, and firms’ interest to protect their intellectual property embodied in the code. If there are ways to mitigate or solve this conflict, the conditions under which OSS will be an appealing solution to firms become much more general. This paper is the first to provide a quantitative empirical study of this conflict and the ways firms deal with it. I present a study of embedded Linux, based on an online-survey that yielded 268 valid responses. It turns out that firms routinely use various means to protect their 
developments, while keeping the GPL. Still, they do reveal a considerable share of their code— on average, 49%. Heterogeneity between firms is analyzed using multivariate analysis. I show how the relative importance of various benefits and downsides of revealing determines a firm’s pattern of revealing. An analysis of reported reasons for revealing and of the type of code that is revealed provides further insights into these patterns. Putting the different dimensions of revealing behavior together, I find that consistent patterns of revealing can be identified for different types of firms.

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Paper 7
Authors:
O'Mahony,Siobhan & Fabrizio Ferraro

Title:
Hacking Alone? The Effects of Online and Offline Participation on Open Source Community Leadership
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/omahonyferraro2.pdf

Abstract:
Research on computer mediated communication has examined how a lack of social presence affects participation, communication
and leadership in online groups, but until recently, has not examined offline relations or emergent social structures. The 
few studies examining these issues have not been integrated with research on open source communities. Online communities producing open source software face even greater problems of governance than affinity or interest based online communities, 
as leadership responsibilities extend beyond mailing list management to managing release dates, public relations, and 
collaborations with firms. With data from one open source community's online and offline networks over three consecutive 
years, we assess factors affecting voting participation and leadership. We find that the more developers one has met face to face, the more likely one was to vote in a leadership election. Controlling for contributions of code, developers are more likely to hold a top leadership position when they participate more in online discussions. However, online participation in technical discussions did not affect leadership as much as occupying a structurally advantaged position in the community's social network. We conclude with theoretical implications that consider the dynamics of online and offline networks for governing distributed online communities.

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Paper 8
Author:
Francesca Antonacci

Title:
Free software development communities as a pedagogic model
Link to full paper in italian (PDF): http://www.tttt.it/francesca/dottorato/ 
Abstract in english: http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/antonacci.pdf

Abstract
The pedagogic interest arising from the emergence of free software development communities is twofold. Firstly, in their 
production practices these communities set out formative processes as well as educational ones. These practices characterise these communities and are not accessory, to the point that without them the communities could not survive. Secondly, these communities are interesting as they make up a particularly rich epistemological model for the understanding of formative, educational and didactical themes. Having embraced the hacker culture, these communities promote and create an incentive to the free circulation of knowledge without protectionist barriers. However, freedom of knowledge alone is not enough, both in the educational and productive fields, unless it is introduced in an organisational model promoting the participation and engagement of the individuals. The communities of free software development are a particularly interesting organisational model because their structure, based on co-operation and solidarity and opposing centralisation, promote the participation of 

programmers and users all over the world. Thanks to this kind of organisation, which owes much to a model of delegating leadership, authoritative but not authoritarian, charismatic but not idealised these communities are putting together a very large number of work groups. These are geographically, methodologically and culturally non-homogeneous groups, which despite all predictions create highly competitive products of high quality. 

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PhD Thesis
Author
Lin, Yuwei

Title:
Hacking Practices and Software Development: A Social Worlds Analysis of ICT Innovation and the Role of Free/Libre Open Source 

Software
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/lin2.pdf

Abstract:
Through use of social worlds theory and qualitative research methods, this thesis explores hackers’ practices and their 
relationships with the computing world and the wider society from a socio-technical perspective. Through engaging with a 
constellation of open source practices (OSPs), actors and actants communicate, negotiate, and shape each other’s identities, practices and understandings of the innovation structure and system in various aspects. In examining the diverse articulations and performances in which hacker culture and hacker identity are both reflected and constructed, the thesis tries to contextualise and deconstruct the ICT architecture we take for granted, as well as the innovations made possible by this architecture. 

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MS Thesis
Author:
Bosco, Gianluca

Title:
Implicit theories of "good leadership" in the open-source community
http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/bosco.pdf

The goal of this paper is to uncover the implicit theories (a.k.a. personal believes) of open-source developers concerning 
the characteristics and behaviors of a "good project leader". Three main behavioral factors are discovered to describe such 
implicit theories: competence, task orientation and person consideration. The conclusions of this study have been drawn from an analysis conducted on data gathered through 138 respondents.

-- 
Karim R. Lakhani
MIT Sloan | The Boston Consulting Group
Mobile: +1 (617) 851-1224
http://spoudaiospaizen.net
http://web.mit.edu/lakhani/www | http://opensource.mit.edu 

-- 
Karim R. Lakhani
MIT Sloan | The Boston Consulting Group
Mobile: +1 (617) 851-1224
http://spoudaiospaizen.net
http://web.mit.edu/lakhani/www | http://opensource.mit.edu 

-- 
Karim R. Lakhani
MIT Sloan | The Boston Consulting Group
Mobile: +1 (617) 851-1224
http://spoudaiospaizen.net
http://web.mit.edu/lakhani/www | http://opensource.mit.edu 