Companies and communities in FLOSS

Master on Free Software

Companies and Communities in FLOSS

Introduction and General Questions


Overview

● Introduction● General Questions● Do we need to know this?● How to find out● Our playground


Introduction

● What are we interested in?● OSS

● How is it developed?● Who is developing it?● How are companies participating in it? <=● How can it be improved?● How can its quality be evaluated?● What is its future?


Introduction

● OSS research● Multidisciplinary

● Software engineering● Economy● Sociology● Psychology● Law


General Questions

● How do companies influence in OSS communities?● What are the different models of relations between OSS communities and corporations?● What are the different ways companies start these relations with communities?

● Dedicating employees to an OSS project?● Employing people already working in OSS projects?

● Contributing code to OSS projects?


General Questions

● Offering bounties in OSS projects?● Starting their own OSS communities?

● What is the effect of the entry of companies in OSS communities?● How do OSS projects with companies involved and others without companies participation compare?

● In terms of code evolution?● In terms of final product quality?● In terms of visibility?


General Questions

● In terms of productisation?● In terms of intellectual property management?

● How do these relations finish?● What happens with the code then?● What happens with the employees then?● What happens with volunteers then?


Do we need to know this?

● Companies need it● To know how to get involved in OSS projects● To know how to have good relations with communities

●OSS communities need it● To avoid problems with companies● To understand how companies can help them


How to find out

● Qualitative studies● Interviews● Surveys● Descriptive studies

● Quantitative studies● Data mining● Tools (CVSAnaly, Pythernity, MailingListStats)● Interpretation and visualisation


Our playground

● Nokia 770● JBoss, Geronimo, JonAS● Firefox● Evolution● Core | Features | Productisation● Canonical, Ubuntu and Gnome● Gnome and KDE

Companies and communities in FLOSS

Economy & Finance

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