Community, joining, and specialization in open source software innovation: a case study

This paper develops an inductive theory of the open source software (OSS) innovation process by focussing on the creation of Freenet, a project aimed at developing a decentralized and anonymous peer-to-peer electronic file sharing network. We are particularly interested in the strategies and process...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Research policy 2003-07, Vol.32 (7), p.1217-1241
Main Authors: von Krogh, Georg, Spaeth, Sebastian, Lakhani, Karim R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collective action
Community
Innovation
Innovations
Open source software
Peer to peer computing
Public domain
Studies
Systems development
Virtual teams
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Summary:This paper develops an inductive theory of the open source software (OSS) innovation process by focussing on the creation of Freenet, a project aimed at developing a decentralized and anonymous peer-to-peer electronic file sharing network. We are particularly interested in the strategies and processes by which new people join the existing community of software developers, and how they initially contribute code. Analyzing data from multiple sources on the Freenet software development process, we generate the constructs of “joining script”, “specialization”, “contribution barriers”, and “feature gifts”, and propose relationships among these. Implications for theory and research are discussed.
ISSN:0048-7333
1873-7625
DOI:10.1016/S0048-7333(03)00050-7