Abstract
How do licenses participate in the life of Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities? This paper aims at answering this question. Despite the dynamic character of FLOSS development, the sociological debate has taken for granted a static perspective of communities, as organized around a restricted range of social values and rules. Criticizing the main sociological approaches to FLOSS communities, we observed in our two cases that, on the contrary, the free/open character of FLOSS should not be assumed as an a priori explanation of the coordination efforts in these communities. Focusing on the role of software licenses, considered as boundary objects in the daily activities of FLOSS communities, we observe that controversies and conflicts around licenses are fundamental parts of communities' lives. Basing our research on two different projects, the Geographical Information System GRASS and the OpenSolaris™ operating system, we show how the construction of the free/open character of FLOSS takes place within the debate about licenses.
Original language | English |
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Journal | First Monday |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 10 |
ISSN | 1396-0466 |
Publication status | Published - 6 Oct 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |