The Open Source Phenomenon as a CSCW Application

8/14/2019 The Open Source Phenomenon as a CSCW Application

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C S C W C S 4 5 5 8

SharonBrosnan

TheOpenSourcePhenomenonAsaComputerSupportedCooperativeWork

Application


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OpenSourceSoftware

OpenSourcesoftwaredescribesasoftwarelicencethatisfreelyavailable,

modifiedandredistributedwithfewrestrictions.Thecommunitythatitis

developedbytendstobelooselyorganized,ad-hoccommunitiesconsistingof

contributorswhoaregeographicallydispersed,whohavenevermetface-to-faceandyetwhoshareastrongsenseofcommitment(Kim2003).OpenSource

softwareisstronglycommunitybasedandisnotorganizedbyoneorganisation.

Thesoftwarecanberedistributedforanypurpose;anypersoncanstudy/modify

thecodeandcopiescanberedistributedorimproved.Someconditionsmaybe

appliedtothecodesuchastheoriginalauthor(s)isgivencredit.Typicallymost

developersofthesoftwareareusersofthesoftwareandhavetofixabug,or

wanttoimprovethesoftwareitself.(Farretal.2008)

Opensourcesoftwareisgrowinganditisthoughtthatby2011,80%ofall

softwarewillbeopensource.(Farretal.2008)

ComputerSupportedCooperativeWork

ComputerSupportedCollaborativeWork(CSCW)isthemethodwhichmultiple

usersworktogetherusingcomputers.Itisdoneusingvarioussystemssuchas

blogs,roomware,teamrooms,forums,InstantMessaging(IM),etc.CSCWallows

userstoco-ordinate;collaborateandmakedecisionsconcerningataskor

project.

DependingonthecontextofasystemsuseallowsfortheuseoftheCSCWmatrix.

Itconsidersworkcontextsonwhethercollaborationisco-locatedor

geographicallydistributed,andwhetherindividualscollaboratesynchronously

orasynchronously.

CSCWwithinOpenSourceSoftware

ThesystemIaminterestedinisOpenSourceSoftware.Thedevelopersaregeographicallydistributedandtheycollaborateasynchronously.SoinOpen

SourceSoftwareusage,thedevelopers/userscommunicateandco-ordinate

usingWikis,blogsandothersimilarsoftware.


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exampleofdifferenttime/differentplacecoordination.

ProgramBots

Programbotswerecreatedtoeasetheworkofeditors.WithProgramBots

repetitivetaskscanbecompletedsuchasreversingvandalism.Thebotcanbeprogrammedtoedittheworkautomaticallyoraneditorcandirectitthere.

PolicyEnvironment

WithinWikipediatherearedefinedacceptablebehaviourguidelines.These

policiescanbecreatedormodifiedbyaneditor.Bycontributingtothesepolicies

editorshelparticulatetoworkthatothereditormayhavetodointhefuture.The

guidelinesareoftencitedorhyperlinkedduringtheeditorsdiscussionsontalk

pages.Thisoftenhappenswheneditorsarestrugglingonhowtoproceedwitha

certainissue.Thiscitingisalsoanexampleofdifferenttime/differentplace

CSCWcoordination.


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CoordinationOfFree/LibreOpenSourceSoftwareDevelopment

(Crowstonetal.,2005)

Thepaperoncoordinationoffree/libreOpenSourcesoftware(FLOSS)

investigateswhatlessonsfromFLOSSdevelopmentcanbetransferredto

mainstreamsoftwaredevelopment.

BycomparingcoordinationmechanismsinFLOSSandinProprietary

Development,throughtheInductiveCaseStudyofinteractionbetween

developersof3projectstheauthorsofthispapergiveusaninsighttothetypes

ofCSCWthedevelopersuse.Mailinglistsandforumsarestudiedfromasimilar

periodinthelifecycleofeachproject.

IntheFLOSScommunityitisclearthatthedevelopersdontusetraditional

projectcoordinationandthatanarchetypicalcommunityisinplace.Asmallcore

groupoverseesthedesignandbulkofcodedevelopment,anddevelopersthen

contributetobugfixes,newfeatures,documentationandsupport.

CSCWwithinFLOSS

CommonOutputsManagement

Inordertopreventcommonoutputsfromseparatetasksamethodhastobein

place.Toavoidduplicatingtasksusersareencouragedtosearchbugtracker

database,howeverthereisnoguaranteeofcorrectresultandthiscanleadto

developersworkingonsamepartofcode.Althoughthemethodisnotperfect,

thiscoordinationmechanismmanagesthedependencyoftwotasksthathaveduplicateoutcomes.

UsabilityDependencyManagement

Theusabilityofthesoftwaredevelopmentprocessmeansthatthereisasystem

inplacetoensurethattheoutputofataskisusablebythefollowingtask.Inthis

casetheusabilityistheflowofdependencyfromfindingabug,tofixingone.A

userfindsabugandreportsit.Theusersmaynotknowwhatinfoissufficientfor

bugreport,sodevelopermustfollowupwiththeuserformoreinformation.This

wasdoneviae-mailoramessageontheforum.Thisisanexampleofdifferent

time/differentplacecoordination.

TaskAssignmentManagement

ThetaskassignmentwithinFLOSSisdoneonavoluntarybasis.Usersposta

descriptionoftaskintheforum,andifadeveloperisinterestedhe/shesubmitsa

bid.Anyonecanworkontasks;developersmayalsosuggestotherswhomight

bebestsuitedtothetask.


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Thereisnohierarchyordelegationoftasks.Themainmethodsforthe

destinationoftasksisasfollows:

SelfAssignmentAskacertainpersonAskanunspecifiedpersonAskanoutsiderSuggestconsultingwithothers

WiththisCSCWmethodappliedthereisabroadparticipationofworkontasks.

Themainproblemwiththistypeofworkisthatmultipledevelopersmaybe

workingonsamepartsofcodeandthedevelopermaybeunreliableanddecide

tofinishtasksaccordingtotheirowntimeandinterest.


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Conclusion

WithinthesepapersitisclearhowComputerSupportedCooperativeWorkis

necessary.Themethodsusedbyeachcasearespecifictotheirownneeds,a

forum,mailinglistorlistbasedsystem.Withmanydifferentuserscollaborating

overacertainstructure,theusersofOpenSourcesoftwarecreateandmodifytheirownsystemstobeabletoworkandcommunicateeffectivelywitheach

other;thesemethodsarenecessarytotheOpenSourcecommunitysothe

communicationandcoordinationofworkinginadifferenttime/differentplace

makessenseanddoesntbecomeobscure.

Reference

J.AaronFarretal.(2008)MakingOpenSourceWork[online],available:http://www.cubiclemuses.com/cm/files/open_source_works.pdf/

http://www.slideshare.net/jaaronfarr/making-open-source-work-presentation

[26/02/09]

EugeneEricKim.(2003)AnIntroductiontoOpenSourceCommunities,BlueOxen

AssociatesLLC

TravisKriplean,IvanBeschastnikh,andDavidW.McDonald.(2008)Articulation

OfWikiwork:UncoveringValuedWorkInWikipediaThroughBarnstars,San

Diego,California,ACM

KevinCrowston,KangningWei,QingLi,U.YelizEsweyelandJamesHowison

(2005)CoordinationOfFree/LibreOpenSourceSoftwareDevelopment,Twenty-

SixthInternationalConferenceonInformationSystems

Documents

The Open Source Phenomenon as a CSCW Application