Learning management systems and the realities of using open source software

Open source software has gained prominence thanks to the Internet and the ability to establish communities, share ideas, and distribute software. It embraces the academic ideals of cooperation and knowledge sharing, as well as being seen to have a low Total Cost of Ownership, greater flexibility, and adaptability. However, many projects have been created from funding that sees their success dependent upon financial support, while the voluntary nature of developer involvement means projects are susceptible to internal politics. Those contemplating an open source Learning Management System should look at its history, community, and technical requirements, as well as reflect upon the stability of commercial software alternatives

Learning management systems and the realities of using open source software

Open source software has gained prominence thanks to the Internet and the ability to establish communities, share ideas, and distribute software. It embraces the academic ideals of cooperation and knowledge sharing, as well as being seen to have a low Total Cost of Ownership, greater flexibility, and adaptability. However, many projects have been created from funding that sees their success dependent upon financial support, while the voluntary nature of developer involvement means projects are susceptible to internal politics. Those contemplating an open source Learning Management System should look at its history, community, and technical requirements, as well as reflect upon the stability of commercial software alternatives

CONCEPTUALIZING THE COMMONS-BASED PEERPRODUCTION OF SOFTWARE: AN ACTIVITY THEORETIC ANALYSIS

Commons-based peer-production (CBPP), as exemplified by community-based open source software (OSS) development, has been posited by Yochai Benkler as an alternative to hierarchies and markets for organizing the production of information goods. This study seeks to conceptualize viable CBPP through an Activity Theoretic analysis of 524 peer-reviewed OSS research artifacts. The analysis reveals the reliance of peer-production communities on complex systems of interrelated tools, rules, and roles as mediating components enabling communities to (i) exploit the two theorized advantages of CBPP (resource allocation and information processing) and (ii) overcome the two theorized challenges associated with this mode of production (motivation and organization). The study clarifies and extends extant understanding of CBPP in several significant ways, and concludes that in order for CBPP to be viable, participants must operate in a sustainable fashion that both enhances the commons and leaves the community intact

Adopting Free/Libre/Open Source Software Practices, Techniques and Methods for Industrial Use

Today’s software companies face the challenges of highly distributed development projects and constantly changing requirements. This paper proposes the adoption of relevant Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) practices in order to improve software development projects in industry. Many FLOSS projects have proven to be very successful, producing high quality products with steady and frequent releases. This study aims to identify FLOSS practices that can be adapted for the corporate environment. To achieve this goal, a framework to compare FLOSS and industrial development methodologies was created. Three successful FLOSS projects were selected as study targets (the Linux Kernel, the FreeBSD operating system, and the JBoss application server), as well as two projects from Ericsson, a large telecommunications company. Based on an analysis of these projects, FLOSS best practices were tailored to fit industrial development environments. The final results consisted of a set of key adoption opportunities that aimed to improve software quality and overall development productivity by importing best practices from the FLOSS environment. The adoption opportunities were then validated at three large corporations

Linux-palvelimen käyttöönoton sekä ylläpidon mahdolliset ongelmat

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää Suomen kaupunkien kohtaamia ongelmia Linux-palvelimen käyttöönotossa ja ylläpidossa. Tarkoituksena oli luoda raamit Linuxpalvelimen käyttöönoton mahdollisille ongelmille, jotta muut kaupungit ja yhteisöt, jotka harkitsevat Linux-palvelimen käyttöönottoa, voivat varautua näihin ongelmiin ennalta. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin kvalitatiivista survey-tutkimusta. Tutkijat laativat kyselylomakkeen, joka lähetettiin kahdeksalle Suomen suurimmalle kaupungille. Kyselyyn vastasi viisi kaupunkia: Espoo, Helsinki, Oulu, Tampere ja Turku. Tutkimusongelmaa analysoitiin näiden viiden vastauksen perusteella. Tutkimuksessa kävi ilmi, että yksikään kaupungeista ei ollut kohdannut ylitsepääsemättömiä ongelmia Linuxin käyttöönotossa tai ylläpidossa. Ongelmat, joita iso osa kaupungeista kohtasi, liittyivät kaupungissa käytettäviin räätälöityihin ohjelmistoihin sekä Linux-palvelimen ja Windows-työasemien kommunikointiin. Jonkin verran ilmeni ongelmia myös Linuxin päivittämisessä. Kaupungit olivat ratkaisseet esiintyneet ongelmat ulkopuolisen tukipalvelun, postituslistojen sekä internetin avulla. Esiintyneiden ongelmien pieni määrä oli yllättävää sikäli, että suurin osa kaupungeista arvioi taitonsa Linuxin suhteen vain välttäviksi. Tämä kertoo siitä, ettei Linuxkäyttöjärjestelmän asentaminen tai ylläpito ole vaikeaa. Suurin osa kaupungeista koki Linuxin käyttöönoton positiivisena kokemuksena.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

A Comprehensive Review and Synthesis of Open Source Research

The open source movement has grown steadily and matured in recent years, and this growth has been mirrored by a rise in open source related research. The objective of this paper is to pause and reflect on the state of the field. We start by conducting a comprehensive literature review of open source research, and organize the resulting 618 peer-reviewed articles into a taxonomy. Elements of this taxonomy are defined and described. We then draw on a number of existing categorization schemes to develop a framework to situate open source research within a wider nomological network. Building on concepts from systems theory, we propose a holistic framework of open source research. This framework incorporates current research, as represented by the taxonomy, identifies gaps and areas of overlap, and charts a path for future work

Λογισμικό ανοιχτού κώδικα: διοίκηση, διάχυση και ανταγωνισμός

Στόχος της διατριβής είναι να συνεισφέρει στην έρευνα για το ανοιχτό λογισμικό μέσα από τη μελέτη της διάχυσής του, αλλά και των επιδράσεών της. Η έρευνα εστιάζει στην πορεία της διάχυσης μέσα στο χρόνο και προσδιορίζει και αποτιμά σχέσεις αιτίας και αποτελέσματος του φαινομένου. Αφενός, προσδιορίζονται και αποτιμούνται οι παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν την πορεία διάχυσης και τη βιωσιμότητα του ανοιχτού λογισμικού (σχέσεις αιτίας). Αφετέρου, μελετώνται οι επιπτώσεις (σχέσεις αποτελέσματος) της διάχυσης τόσο σε οικονομικό, όσο και σε κοινωνικο-πολιτικό επίπεδο. Στο οικονομικό επίπεδο, πραγματοποιείται ανάλυση της αγοράς λογισμικού και εξετάζεται η συμπεριφορά και η δομή της ως αποτέλεσμα όχι μόνο της εισόδου του ανοιχτού λογισμικού, αλλά και των επιχειρηματικών μοντέλων ανοιχτού λογισμικού. Στο κοινωνικό-πολιτικό επίπεδο μελετώνται οι επιδράσεις στο δημόσιο τομέα και ιδιαίτερα στην ηλεκτρονική διακυβέρνηση και εκπαίδευση. Οι προτεινόμενες μεθοδολογίες και μοντέλα, βασίζονται στις θεωρίες διάχυσης των καινοτομιών και αποδοχής των Πληροφοριακών Συστημάτων, αλλά και σε κοινωνικο-οικονομικέ θεωρίες. Η αποτίμηση των μοντέλων υλοποιείται με αυστηρό μεθοδολογικό πλαίσιο των μαθηματικών και της στατιστικής. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας παρέχουν ακριβείς, a-priori εκτιμήσεις της πορείας διάχυσης, του ανταγωνισμού και των σημείων ισορροπίας της αγοράς και μπορεί να αποβούν πολύ χρήσιμες σε ένα διαρκώς εξελισσόμενο και ανταγωνιστικό περιβάλλον, όπως αυτό της αγοράς ΤΠΕ.This PhD thesis aims to contribute to the open source software (OSS) research by studying the OSS diffusion and its economic, social and political implications. The research focuses on the process of diffusion over time and assesses relations of cause and effect. Firstly, it identifies and assesses the factors critical for the diffusion and sustainability of OSS (cause). Secondly, it assesses the economic and socio-political impact of the OSS diffusion (effect). An analysis of the software market and a deeper examination of the market behavior and structure is performed, as a result of both the OSS diffusion and its implications, that is the new OSS business models. In socio-political terms, the effects of OSS diffusion in the sectors of eGovernment and education are studied. The proposed models and methodologies are based on theoretical background that borrows elements from the theories of technology acceptance and diffusion of innovations, as well as from social and economic theories. The models’ evaluation is implemented with a rigorous methodological framework of mathematics and statistics. Results provide more accurate, a-priori estimations of the diffusion rate and the market competition and equilibrium tthatare especially helpful in a continuously evolving and competitive environment such as the ICT market