ITR: Understanding Open Software Communities, Processes and Practices: A Socio-Technical Approach

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This study will develop empirically grounded models and theories of the social processes, technical system configurations, organizational contexts, and interrelationships that give rise to open software. "Open software", or more narrowly, open source software, represents a new approach for communities of like-minded participants to develop software systems that are intended to be shared freely, rather than offered as commercial products. While there is a growing popular literature attesting to open software, there is little in the way of careful systematic empirical study that informs how such communities produce software; how they coordinate software development across different settings; and what social processes, work practices, and organizational contexts are necessary to their success. Thus, to the extent that science research communities and commercial enterprises seek the supposed efficacy of open software, they will need better grounded theories of use to allow effective investment of their resources. This study investigates four communities engaged in open software. Field study methods will be employed to examine each community from both a technical and social viewpoint. Studying both social and technical arrangements allows the examination of the continual emergence of both within a joint social-technical ecology. Case study methods will be used to compare across communities.