Open Source Adoption and Use: A Comparative Study Between Groups in the US and India

Open source software communities work in a loosely knit organizational structure that works primarily on the motivations of gift and contribution of source code. They communicate using modern Internet-based applications and organize themselves into self-guided virtual communities. Several methods of collaboration and development of intellectual property through software within these communities are quite unique and innovative. Current research effort mainly focused on understanding the individual motivations, collaboration mechanisms, and associated project management challenges of various OSS projects. However, as open source software usage moves mainstream and becomes more and more widespread, factors drive its diffusion and adoption deserve more research attention. Using the concepts of innovation adoption, we attempt to examine the possible drivers that influence adoption of open source software within different open source communities. In particular, the results from two user groups - one from an OSS community in United States, one from an OSS community in India, are extensively compared and contrasted to gain better understanding of factors that lead to adoption and use of open source software

Crowdsourced User-Testing

The presented thesis investigates facilitating software quality assurance in open source communities through a human computation platform. Inexperienced community members can contribute formalized user testing data, which is then aggregated and presented to the developers. The implemented prototype, named open crowdsourced user-testing suite (OPEN-CUTS), was evaluated in a usability study in the UBports Community. The viability of this approach has been demonstrated, and further goals for research and development are proposed

CIO herds and user gangs in the adoption of open source software

Open Source Software (OSS) has received wide attention from the research community, analyzing both the innovation process of software development by distributed and unrelated teams, and the market dynamics at play between "free" and proprietary software. Up until now, OSS adoption has been irregular, although it seems to be breaking the dominance of existing players in some market segments. In this paper, we contend that due to the particularities of its development process, traditional ways of explaining IT adoption -rational decision making, technology diffusion models, and the psychology of the decision maker- are insufficient to explain the case of OSS diffusion. We believe that the existence of a strong and diffused development community leads to a new role of the user community, as both are intertwined. In addition, new concerns for social corporate responsibility and welfare create a new context, in which "user gangs" may exert some degrees of pressure on the IT decision maker. By analyzing some significant cases we depict under what conditions significant OSS adoption may unfold, showing that in two of the cases studied user gangs play a significant role. The resulting preliminary framework will inform future work, in which we aim at validating the emerging insights gained in this research.Open source software; IT adoption; user communities; CIO herding;

A Tool for Identifying Swarm Intelligence on a Free/Open Source Software Mailing List

A software tool designed using the concepts of swarm intelligence and text mining is proposed as an aid in the analysis of free/open source software (FOSS) development communities. A prototype of the tool collects textual data from an electronic mailing list, a primary mode of FOSS developer communication. The tool enables a user to compare patterns of discussion topics found in the text with patterns of swarm intelligence. The research of this design is congruent with Madey et al.‟s (2002) observation that the open source software development phenomenon shows an emergent behavior and can be modeled after agent-based, biologically-inspired swarms. The goal of a tool for identifying emergent intelligence on FOSS mailing lists is to increasing the user‟s understanding of a given FOSS development community

OpenReq: recommender systems in requirements engineering

The major focus of OpenReq is the development of recommendation and decision technologies that effciently support requirements engineering processes in large and distributed software projects. Example scenarios thereof are the bid management in industrial systems, requirements engineering in cross-plattform open source software development, and requirements management in large user communities (telecommunications sector). The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of OpenReq and to provide insights into related application scenarios and research issues.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Benefiting innovative capabilities of software developer/user communities in developing countries

Since technological innovation is generally considered to be a major force in global economic growth, the development of innovative capabilities in developing countries has been a very important policy issue. Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) has reshaped software technology through the creation of developer/user communities which enabled the collaboration of different parties resulting in the production of Linux and similar software projects. FLOSS user/developer community networks serve not only as "learning, reviewing, and testing" environments for developers, but they may also act as innovation networks that contribute to the improvement of the innovative capabilities of individual developers within the community. Therefore, understanding the characteristics, the motivating factors and the innovative dynamics of these developer communities will provide valuable insight into how to improve the innovative capabilities of developing countries in relation to software.The aim of this paper is to explore the characteristics of FLOSS developer communities in order to discover what benefits they may offer developing countries in generating innovative capabilities related to software. By conducting a survey in the FLOSS user/developer community in Turkey, the demographic characteristics, motivation factors and innovative characteristics of the community are explored and the question of whether these communities may act as innovation networks is examined. It is concluded that FLOSS community networks mostly serve as knowledge sharing and collaboration platforms, however, they do have the potential to evolve into innovation networks if they receive support from the local software industry and academic institutions.Publisher's Versio

lidR : an R package for analysis of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is a remote sensing technology known for its applicability in natural resources management. By quantifying the three-dimensional structure of vegetation and underlying terrain using laser technology, ALS has been used extensively for enhancing geospatial knowledge in the fields of forestry and ecology. Structural descriptions of vegetation provide a means of estimating a range of ecologically pertinent attributes, such as height, volume, and above-ground biomass. The efficient processing of large, often technically complex datasets requires dedicated algorithms and software. The continued promise of ALS as a tool for improving ecological understanding is often dependent on user-created tools, methods, and approaches. Due to the proliferation of ALS among academic, governmental, and private-sector communities, paired with requirements to address a growing demand for open and accessible data, the ALS community is recognising the importance of free and open-source software (FOSS) and the importance of user-defined workflows. Herein, we describe the philosophy behind the development of the lidR package. Implemented in the R environment with a C/C++ backend, lidR is free, open-source and cross-platform software created to enable simple and creative processing workflows for forestry and ecology communities using ALS data. We review current algorithms used by the research community, and in doing so raise awareness of current successes and challenges associated with parameterisation and common implementation approaches. Through a detailed description of the package, we address the key considerations and the design philosophy that enables users to implement user-defined tools. We also discuss algorithm choices that make the package representative of the ‘state-of-the-art' and we highlight some internal limitations through examples of processing time discrepancies. We conclude that the development of applications like lidR are of fundamental importance for developing transparent, flexible and open ALS tools to ensure not only reproducible workflows, but also to offer researchers the creative space required for the progress and development of the discipline

Performance Implications of Stage-Wise Lead User Participation in Software Development Problem Solving

The problem-solving view of new product development sees the innovation process as a series of problem-solving loops broken down into three stages: problem detection, analysis and removal. We link this framework with lead user-driven innovation regarding software and show that effort by lead users (LUs) in each stage of the innovation problem solving process is, in varying degrees, associated with the source code’s quality, the productivity of the development process and the software’s popularity. We also test whether front loading the problem solving process is associated with development performance and we find that front loading is associated with increased code quality but decreased development productivity. Empirical tests are carried out with data from open source software projects. Findings potentially impact the design and management of online communities to help product development

Firms' contribution to open source software and the dominant skilled user

: Free/libre or open-source software (FLOSS) is nowadays produced not only by individual benevolent developers but, in a growing proportion, by firms that hire programmers for their own objectives of development in open source or for contributing to open-source projects in the context of dedicated communities. A recent literature has focused on the question of the business models explaining how and why firms may draw benefits from such involvement and their connected activities. They can be considered as the building blocks of a new modus operandi of an industry, built on an alternative approach to intellectual property management. Its prospects will depend on both the firms' willingness to rally and its ability to compete with the traditional “proprietary” approach. As a matter of fact, firms' involvement in FLOSS, while growing, remains very contrasting, depending on the nature of the products and the characteristics of the markets. The aim of this paper is to emphasize that, beside factors like the importance of software as a core competence of the firm, the role of users on the related markets - and more precisely their level of skills - may provide a major explanation of such diversity. We introduce the concept of the dominant skilled user and we set up a theoretical model to better understand how it may condition the nature and outcome of the competition between a FLOSS firm and a proprietary firm. We discuss these results in the light of empirical stylized facts drawn from the recent trends in the software industrySoftware ; Open Source ; Intellectual Property ; Competition ; Users

Towards an Expert Network in Open Standards and Open Source Software: Research, Expertise and Synergy for Open and Libres Standards and Software (RESOLL) - Version 2.0

CIRANO and its partners are proposing the creation of an Expert Network in Open Standards and Open Source Software (Research, Expertise and Synergy for Open and Libres Standards and Software-RESOLL), which would be a partnership between information technology research centres, government and private user organizations, and businesses working in the field. The network will conduct studies and pilot projects that integrate computer solutions based on open standards and open source software, mainly in e-government fields such as health, education, and scientific research, as well as municipal and quasi-public services and business processes for SMEs. The knowledge, expertise and tools thus developed will be disseminated in a number of ways in order to Quebec and Canadian expertise in the field. RESOLL will also have economic and strategic benefits in that it will put the new economic model to the test in terms of open standards and open source software as well as the reuse of software components by organizations. Background The development of on-line government services and e-business is a priority for governments and businesses of all sizes. It requires considerable spending and significant strategic and organizational changes. Of the many information technology solutions available, the use of open standards and open source software is often brought up by those in the know. Although the Internet and many world-renowned software programs were developed largely from open standards and open source software, there is still a need to study, and above all prove the advantages of this approach for public and quasi-public organizations as well as small to medium-sized businesses. It is essential to identify the needs of these organizations, document best practices, experiment with open source software solutions, evaluate the performance of the software and share the knowledge and know-how of Quebec and Canadian research centres and businesses. RESOLL Goals he main goal of the Expert Network on Open Standards and Open Source Software (RESOLL) is to give people an understanding of the benefits of open standards and open source software and suggest an intelligent and advantageous use of them for public and quasi-public organizations and SMEs. More specifically, the goals are as follows: Document and share government and industry policies, strategies, and practices with respect to the use and development of adaptive software and open source software, defining open standards, open source software, adaptive software, and proprietary software; Adapt these practices and share the different methods with partners and the IT management and development communities in government and business; Establish innovative prototypes and pilot projects in order to test and demonstrate the advantages and features of this approach; Develop the expertise of Quebec and Canadian organizations in the field and create synergy between them and their users; P ublish and share the findings of the work, contribute to the enrichment of a collective software asset base available to public and quasi-public organizations and SMEs while explaining the legal issues involved in the various types of licences and electronic services. Process ESOLL is a multilateral partnership founded on the excellence of partners in their respective field. The RESOLL process will be based on the needs of its partners and users. Once these needs have been identified, research will be conducted to identify available solutions, adapt them through an integration process and alpha test them. This would be followed by a pilot project as required by the organizations and businesses. The pilot project will be implemented and evaluated in order to learn from it and ensure that necessary adjustments are made. Solutions thus obtained will be implemented as electronic services either by the client organization’s IT department or by a business partner. It is up to each organization to select their service provider. RESOLL will encourage the transfer of developed tools and services to partners for complete autonomy. Each project will have its own budget, funded by client partners. RESOLL will use part of its operating budget to start projects and develop a start-up asset base for its activities. Expectations and Deliverables The expectations of RESOLL partners and the team can be expressed by the achievement of their goals. RESOLL’s actions will quickly lead to concrete results. The deliverables will be: Policy and position papers to help partners make clear and informed decisions; Needs analyses and suggested solutions; Software solutions based on open standards and open source software integrated into experimental electronic services; Pilot project experiments that combine strategies, plans, software solutions, project support, evaluation and recommendations; Studies and interpretation documents for different types of licences and software; Collaborative Web site for sharing documents and open source software developed in the context of RESOLL projects or available on the Internet, with comments and explanations; Information and knowledge sharing activities for RESOLL and its partners (conferences, workshops, training, etc.). Partners RESOLL is a multilateral partnership. The partners that have been asked to become involved are: CIRANO, CRIM, RISQ, the governments of Quebec and Canada, Industry Canada, university researchers, Canadian and Quebec software and information technology companies, and not-for-profit user organizations from the software and information technology fields. Budget ESOLL’s master infrastructure budget will make it possible to establish a small coordination team involving part-time resources seconded from their parent organizations. We plan to obtain general financing from government and the businesses involved. The individual projects will provide their own financing. Other Benefits RESOLL will contribute to Quebec’s and Canada’s world leadership by sharing the results of its work. It will contribute to the eventual creation of resources that will enable partner companies to commercialize services based on open source software.Open standard, free software, open software, FOSS, e-government, business process, small and medium enterprises,