Free-libre open source software as a public policy choice

Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is characterised by a specific programming and development paradigm. The availability and freedom of use of source code are at the core of this paradigm, and are the prerequisites for FLOSS features. Unfortunately, the fundamental role of code is often ignored among those who decide the software purchases for Canadian public agencies. Source code availability and the connected freedoms are often seen as unrelated and accidental aspects, and the only real advantage acknowledged, which is the absence of royalty fees, becomes paramount. In this paper we discuss some relevant legal issues and explain why public administrations should choose FLOSS for their technological infrastructure. We also present the results of a survey regarding the penetration and awareness of FLOSS usage into the Government of Canada. The data demonstrates that the Government of Canada shows no enforced policy regarding the implementation of a specific technological framework (which has legal, economic, business, and ethical repercussions) in their departments and agencies

The three dimensions of a communitarian institution. The Open Source Software Community Case

The 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

Structural Complexity and Decay in FLOSS Systems: An Inter-Repository Study

Past software engineering literature has firmly established that software architectures and the associated code decay over time. Architectural decay is, potentially, a major issue in Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects, since developers sporadically joining FLOSS projects do not always have a clear understanding of the underlying architecture, and may break the overall conceptual structure by several small changes to the code base. This paper investigates whether the structure of a FLOSS system and its decay can also be influenced by the repository in which it is retained: specifically, two FLOSS repositories are studied to understand whether the complexity of the software structure in the sampled projects is comparable, or one repository hosts more complex systems than the other. It is also studied whether the effort to counteract this complexity is dependent on the repository, and the governance it gives to the hosted projects. The results of the paper are two-fold: on one side, it is shown that the repository hosting larger and more active projects presents more complex structures. On the other side, these larger and more complex systems benefit from more anti-regressive work to reduce this complexity

Relationship between size, effort, duration and number of contributors in large FLOSS projects

This contribution presents initial results in the study of the relationship between size, effort, duration and number of contributors in eleven evolving Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects, in the range from approx. 650,000 to 5,300,000 lines of code. Our initial motivation was to estimate how much effort is involved in achieving a large FLOSS system. Software cost estimation for proprietary projects has been an active area of study for many years. However, to our knowledge, no previous similar research has been conducted in FLOSS effort estimation. This research can help planning the evolution of future FLOSS projects and in comparing them with proprietary systems. Companies that are actively developing FLOSS may benefit from such estimates. Such estimates may also help to identify the productivity ’baseline’ for evaluating improvements in process, methods and tools for FLOSS evolution

FLOSS in New Zealand Public Libraries

This study attempts to gain an understanding of the uses and potential uses of FLOSS (free/libre and open source software) in New Zealand public libraries; including how FLOSS is currently being used by New Zealand public libraries, problems encountered with FLOSS, benefits received from using FLOSS, and how libraries came to the decision to use FLOSS. It uses an instrumental case study approach and interviews eight participants from four institutions; Te Horowhenua Trust, Auckland Libraries, Aotearoa People's Network Kaharoa and South Taranaki LibraryPlus. The research found that participants were very happy with their FLOSS usage, and that it was important for governing bodies and IT departments to be supportive of experimentation and innovation. Benefits of FLOSS included lack of vendor lock-in, lower cost, flexibility, ability to influence the development of the software, the philosophies and ethos of FLOSS, better features, stability, community support and the ability to give patrons software to use outside the library. Information sharing between libraries and engagement with FLOSS communities were important factors in successful use. Further research could study how software procurement decisions are made in New Zealand libraries, and whether FLOSS is being overlooked due to preconceptions or uneven decision-making processes

An MADM risk-based evaluation-selection model of free-libre open source software tools

Free-Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) tools are free-cost license highly attractive to be implemented by organizations. However, not of all the FLOSS tools are mature, and failed implementations can occur. Thus, FLOSS evaluation-selection frameworks and FLOSS success-failure implementation factors studies have been conducted. In this research, we advance on such studies through an integrated FLOSS evaluation-selection model with a risk-based decision making approach. Our model was built upon the other two literatures, and it was structured as a Multi-Attribute Decision Making (MADM) model which contains 12 variables grouped in four risk categories: financial, organizational, end-user and technical ones. We illustrated its utilization in the domain of Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) FLOSS tools. Hence, our model contributes to the FLOSS literature with the inclusion of the risk management approach and to the FLOSS evaluation-selection praxis with the provision of an innovative and essential risk-based model

Milkweed Production Trials

Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is a plant native to North America and has recently become the focus of conservation programs as milkweed is the sole food source for the Monarch butterfly larvae. Milkweed has long been a foe of agricultural operations and as a result, populations have been on the decline throughout the United States. To increase the abundance and scale of conservation plantings of milkweed, the Natural Resource and Conservation Service (NRCS) has developed an incentive program to compensate landowners for establishing perennial monarch habitat including planting milkweed. Landowners in northern Vermont have a unique opportunity to expand milkweed acreage by producing it as a crop. A textile company in Quebec, Canada has recently begun processing the silky fiber (floss) from the milkweed plant for use in a wide variety of oil/chemical absorbent and clothing applications. The floss has insulative properties similar to down due to its unique hollow fiber structure which also makes it incredibly light. Furthermore, the floss is equipped with a natural water-repellant waxy coating that allows it to be waterproof while absorbing hydrophobic liquids such as petroleum products. The Monark Cooperative, who enrolls farmers in production contracts and provides seed, technical assistance, and harvesting equipment to members, is looking to increase milkweed production in Quebec and Vermont. This opportunity will require farms to learn best techniques for cultivating milkweed as a commercial crop versus the techniques they currently know which is to eliminate at first sight

Applying the 3C Model to FLOSS communities

Publicado em "Collaboration and technology: 22nd International Conference, CRIWG 2016, Kanazawa, Japan, September 14-16, 2016, proceedings". ISBN 978-3-319-44798-8How learning occurs within Free/Libre Open Source (FLOSS) communities and what is the dynamics such projects (e.g. the life cycle of such projects) are very relevant questions when considering the use of FLOSS projects in a formal education setting. This paper introduces an approach based on the 3C collaboration model (communication, coordination and cooperation) to represent the collaborative learning dynamics within FLOSS communities. To explore the collaborative learning potential of FLOSS communities a number of questionnaires and interviews to selected FLOSS contributors were run. From this study a 3C collaborative model applicable to FLOSS communities was designed and discussed.Programa Operacional da Região Norte, NORTE2020, in the context of project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000037FCT under grant SFRH/BSAB/113890/201

Floss firms, users and communities: a viable match?

International audienceThe 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

How many times is the optimum dental floss frequency in people with normal ‎periodontium? A randomized controlled single blind clinical trial

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Due to the inadequate of a toothbrush in cleaning of interdental areas and further advanced developing of the disease in this area, dental flossing seems essential. However, the developing of people’s using dental floss as a habit is difficult. The purpose of this paper is to determine the use of dental floss frequency in reducing plaque and the optimal dental floss daily use frequency in people with a healthy periodontium. METHODS: In this study, 44 dental students of School of Dentistry, Kerman, Iran, with healthy periodontal or at most a few bleeding on probing (BOP) areas were investigated. Scaling and root planning was performed for all subjects at baseline as well as necessary trainings about how to use the toothbrush and dental floss were instructed. In terms of using dental floss frequency, participants were divided into four groups of 22 each G1, G2, G3, and G4 which were meant to be used dental floss in every second day, a day, 2 or 3 times a day, respectively. At baseline, total plaque index (TPI), internal plaque index, and internal bleeding index were evaluated after 3 and 6 weeks. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS, statistical tests ANOVA, and paired t-test. RESULTS: In this study, there was a significant reduction in plaque index after 6 weeks (P < 0.050) however there was no significant difference between groups in terms of the interdental bleeding index (IBI). CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, if a person with normal periodontal tissues uses the toothbrush and dental floss properly, using dental floss in every other day is sufficient to maintain the gingival healthy