Gift economies in the development of open source software: anthropological reflections

Building on Eric Raymond’s work this article discusses the motivation and rewards that lead some software engineers to participate in the open source movement. It is suggested that software engineers in the open source movement may have sub-groupings which parallel kinship groups such as lineages. W...

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Published in:Research policy 2003-07, Vol.32 (7), p.1287-1291
Main Author: Zeitlyn, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cathedral and bazaar
Compensation
Gift economy
Group dynamics
Non-economic motivation
Open source software
Prestige
Studies
Symbolic capital
Systems development
Teamwork
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description Building on Eric Raymond’s work this article discusses the motivation and rewards that lead some software engineers to participate in the open source movement. It is suggested that software engineers in the open source movement may have sub-groupings which parallel kinship groups such as lineages. Within such groups gift giving is not necessarily or directly reciprocated, instead members work according to the ‘axiom of kinship amity’—direct economic calculation is not appropriate within the group. What Bourdieu calls ‘symbolic capital’ can be used to understand how people work in order to enhance the reputation (of themselves and their group).
doi_str_mv 10.1016/S0048-7333(03)00053-2
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source International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS); ScienceDirect Journals
subjects Cathedral and bazaar
Compensation
Gift economy
Group dynamics
Non-economic motivation
Open source software
Prestige
Studies
Symbolic capital
Systems development
Teamwork
title Gift economies in the development of open source software: anthropological reflections
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