the evolution of open source software (oss 2.0) brian fitzgerald university of limerick, ireland...
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The Evolution of Open Source Software (OSS 2.0)
Brian FitzgeraldUniversity of Limerick, Ireland
Advancing Knowledge
Washington D
C
10-11 Jan 2005
Overview Paradoxes and Tensions in OSS
– Cathedral v. Bazaar: paradigm shift in software engineering?
– Collectivist v. Individualist?
Some Lessons from Large-Scale OSS Implementation (Beaumont Hospital)
Paradoxes and Tensions in OSS 2.0– Value for money v. Community values– From bazaar process to bazaar product– Microsoft as central player
Looking in
Looking out
Looking forward
“Linux is about getting freedom, personal firearms are about keeping it”
Eric Raymond (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aug 30, 2000)
Cathedral v. Bazaar: a paradigm shift in software engineering? Yes
– Bazaar global community personal development style
– Duplication of effort – optimistic concurrency
No– Some OSS projects very cathedral-like– GNU/Linux benefits from Unix and BSD lessons– Modularity, peer review, testing, configuration
management key but well understood in s/w eng
Collectivism v. Individualism
From programmers according to skills, to users according to their needs – Bob Young– Linux largest collaborative project in history
But…– 85% of Apache user modification requests ignored
Self-deprecation/modesty (to elicit help) Supreme ability/charisma (to lead voluntary
project) ‘Engine’ driving OSS is
– Competition among individual developers/projects – Network-enabled collective collaboration among
developers/projects
Some Lessons from Large-Scale Implementation: Beaumont Hospital Free beer more important than free speech
to post-Y2K IT departments– €8m savings in s/w acquisition costs over 5 years– The Berkeley Conundrum!
Users more proactive in OSS implementation
‘Small-World’ Network Effects– Finnish hospital staff flying to Dublin– Beaumont contributing back in vertical domain
Nursing staff (>99% female) extremely receptive to OSS
Some Lessons from Large-Scale Implementation: Beaumont Hospital
But some user resistance– Fear of being deskilled– Perception that work undervalued if using free
software
Paradoxes and Tensions in OSS 2.0 Value for money v. Community Values Value for money
– Increased commercialisation– Many OSS players need to make payroll
But must adhere to acceptable community values– Sun, IBM, DaimlerChrysler – Red Hat & Animal Farm
‘Engine’ further driving OSS 2.0 is balancing this tension
Paradoxes and Tensions in OSS 2.0 Development process less bazaar-like
– Apache conferences, Zope/Plone project meetings
– Legal incorporation of OSS projects– No more ‘thrilling adventure of installing Linux’– Customers willing to pay for professional service
& support
Development product more bazaar-like– Convenient networks leveraging OSS brand (a la
LVMH)
Paradoxes and Tensions in OSS 2.0 Microsoft as a central player in OSS 2.0
– Already muddied water with Shared Source– Abstracted principles into Most Valued
Professional, Open Value initiatives
Microsoft History in OSS– Windows services for Unix– XP and 2000 use BSD code– Projects on SourceForge