Handbook of Research on Open Source Software : Technological, Economic, and Social Perspectives

The Handbook of Research on Open Source Software: Technological, Economic, and Social Perspectives is one of the few texts to combine OSS in public and private sector activities into a single reference source. This authoritative publication examines how the use of open source software (OSS) affects practices in society, business, government, education, and law. It provides a balance of theoretical perspectives, experiences, and cases in relation to these key areas. This thorough collection includes an overview of the culture from which OSS emerged and the development practices though which OSS is created and modified. The Handbook of Research on Open Source Software: Technological, Economic, and Social Perspectives is an international collaboration including authors from six continents and more than 12 countries. This multinational and multicultural perspective becomes crucial when making effective decisions about software in today's global policy and business environments. This text is an essential reference to business persons, policy makers, educators, and private citizens who are curious about how factors related to OSS may affect different aspects of their lives. Title Page 2 Editorial Advisory Board 4 List of Contributors 5 Table of Contents 8 Detailed Table of Contents 13 Foreword 27 Preface 31 Acknowledgment 37 Section I Culture, Society, and Open Source Software 38 Chapter I Free Software Philosophy and Open Source 40 Chapter II Greasemonkey and a Challenge to Notions of Authorship 51 Chapter III Morality and Pragmatism in Free Software and Open Source 62 Chapter IV Hacker Culture and the FLOSS Innovation 73 Chapter V Social Technologies and the Digital Commons 86 Chapter VI ALBA Architecture as Proposal for OSS Collaborative Science 107 Chapter VII Evaluating the Potential of Free and Open Source Software in the Developing World 118 Chapter VIII Open Source Software: A Developing Country View 132 Chapter IX The Social and Economical Impact of OSS in Developing Countries 141 Section II Development Models and Methods for Open Source Software Production 154 Chapter X Dependencies, Networks, and Priorities in an Open Source Project 155 Chapter XI Patchwork Prototyping with Open Source Software 165 Chapter XII An Agile Perspective on Open Source Software Engineering 180 Chapter XIII A Model for the Successful Migration to Desktop OSS 193 Chapter XIV The Social Order of Open Source Software Production 207 Section III Evaluating Open Source Software Products and Uses 222 Chapter XV Open Source Software: Strengths and Weaknesses 223 Chapter XVI Open Source Software Evaluation 236 Chapter XVII Open Source Web Portals 250 Chapter XVIII Curious Exceptions? Open Source Software and “Open” Technology 266 Chapter XIX Reducing Transaction Costs with GLW Infrastructure 279 Chapter XX Issues to Consider when Choosing Open Source Content Management Systems (CMSs) 294 Chapter XXI Evaluating Open Source Software through Prototyping 308 Chapter XXII Motives and Methods for Quantitative FLOSS Re 321 Chapter XXIII A Generalized Comparison of Open Source and Commercial Database Management Systems 333 Chapter XXIV Evaluation of a Migration to Open Source Software 348 Section IV Laws and Licensing Practices Affecting Open Source Software Uses 366 Chapter XXV Legal and Economic Justifi cation for Software Protection 367 Chapter XXVI OSS Adoption in the Legal Services Community 379 Chapter XXVII The Road of Computer Code Featuring the Political Economy of Copyleft and Legal Analysis of the General Public License 387 Chapter XXVIII The Evolution of Free Software 402 Chapter XXIX Free Access to Law and Open Source Software 412 Chapter XXX Examining Open Source Software Licenses through the Creative Commons Licensing Model 421 Chapter XXXI FLOSS Legal and Engineering Terms and a License Taxonomy 433 Section V Public Policy, the Public Sector, and Government Perspectives on Open Source Software 450 Chapter XXXII On the Role of Public Policies Supporting Free/Open Source Software 451 Chapter XXXIII Use of OSS by Local E-Administration: The French Situation 467 Chapter XXXIV Issues and Aspects of Open Source Software Usage and Adoption in the Public Sector 484 Chapter XXXV The Labor Politics of Scratching an Itch 499 Chapter XXXVI Open Source Technology and Ideology in the Nonprofit Context 507 Chapter XXXVII Governance and the Open Source Repository 519 Section VI Business Approaches and Applications Involving Open Source Software 533 Chapter XXXVIII Analyzing Firm Participation in Open Source Communities 534 Chapter XXXIX Community Customers 549 Chapter XL Open Source Software Business Models and Customer Involvement Economics 561 Chapter XLI Investing in Open Source Software Companies: Deal Making from a Venture Capitalist’s Perspective 571 Chapter XLII Revenue Models in the Open Source Software Business 580 Chapter XLIII Open Source for Accounting and Enterprise Systems 594 Chapter XLIV Open Source Software and the Corporate World 609 Chapter XLV Business Models in Open Source Software Value Creation 617 Chapter XLVI Novell’s Open Source Evolution 629 Section VII Educational Perspectives and Practices Related to Open Source Software 648 Chapter XLVII Communities of Practice for Open Source Software 649 Chapter XLVIII Selecting Open Source Software for Use in Schools 663 Chapter XLIX Open Source E-Learning Systems: Evaluation of Features and Functionality 677 Chapter L The Role of Open Source Software in Open Access Publishing 688 Chapter LI An Innovative Desktop OSS Implementation in a School 698 Chapter LII Rapid Insertion of Leading Edge Industrial Strength Software into University Classrooms 709 Chapter LIII Wikis as an Exemplary Model of Open Source Learning 720 Chapter LIV A Perspective on Software Engineering Education with Open Source Software 729 About the Contributors 742 Index 759 The Handbook of Research on Open Source Software: Technological, Economic, and Social Perspectives is the premier, comprehensive reference source compiling the latest research on the topic of open source software (OSS) technologies and their educational, economic, organizational, and societal implications. This authoritative publication examines how the use of open source software affects the overall utilization and legal ramifications of sharing software resources openly in societal, business, government, and educational settings. It provides a balance of theoretical perspectives, experiences 'This book examines how use of open source software (OSS) is affecting society, business, government, education, and law, including an overview of the culture from which OSS emerged and the process though which OSS is created and modified. Readers will gain an understanding of the complexities and the nuances related to OSS adoption and the range of its applications'--Provided by publisher.