[ox-en] Open Source Software Production: Fact & Fiction,
- From: Martin Hardie <auskadi tvcabo.co.mz>
- Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 17:08:19 +0200
Gilberto Camara, Open Source Software Production: Fact & Fiction,
(2004) Mute 27 at 74
A study conducted by the national Institute for Space Research looking
at OSS production of geoinformation technology. 70 projects.
- only 6% were based on a loose network of collaborators
- 41% were corporation based projects of which 17 were private
companies; 8 govt institutions; 4 universities
"Maintaining and supporting an open source software project requires
considerable resources, beyond the reach of most university groups,
added to which there is a conflict between the generation of new
research ideas and the need for long term maintenance and upgrades." He
concludes that
"The Linux paradigm is exceptional. Corporations are the main
developers of successful open source products built around their own
strategic agenda, and peer-networked teams develop only 6% of all open
source GIS products. This result strongly mitigates claims that open
source software development defines a significant new 'mode of
production'. In fact, the vast majority of substantial software design
and development is still the product of qualified teams operating at a
high level of interaction. Developing software in a decentralised
manner requires a modular design that is difficult to achieve for most
applications, since few software products can be broken into very small
parts without a substantial increase in costs.
These results have important consequences for public policy guidance.
Governments worldwide who try to benefit from the open source software
model by establishing legislation mandating its use could be frustrated
by the lack of mature, public sector applications. In order to create
the software they need, governments will have to establish public
funded projects for open source development and adaptation to local
needs. Software, whether open or closed source, is still constrained by
the essential requirements of its development process: conceptual
design; program granularity; cohesion of the programming team and
dissemination strategy. Failure to understand the realities of the open
source development model could result in lost opportunity for the
developing world: reducing the critical technological gap between rich
and poor."
But this is a very small study in a niche area. There is no explanation
of the history of software development in this area either. The
conclusions are not empirically justified, but are projection and
politically inscribed in terms of strategy themselves.
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