Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Sadowski, Bert
Author-Email: b.m.sadowski@tm.tue.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Technology Eindhoven
Author-Name: Sadowski-Rasters, Gaby
Author-Email: g.sadowski@eindhoven.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: Municipality of Eindhoven
Author-Name: Duysters, Geert
Author-Email: duysters@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT
Title: Transition of Governance in a Mature Open Software Source Community: Evidence 
	 from the Debian Case
Abstract:  As flourishing, productive open source software (OSS) communities 
	 mature, they have to introduce a variety of governance mechanisms to 
	 manage the participation of their members and to coordinate the launch 
	 of new releases. In contrast to other modes of governance of OSS 
	 communities, the Debian community introduced new mechanisms of informal 
	 administrative control based on a constitution, elected leaders and new 
	 functions attributed to interactive communication channels (like mailing 
	 lists or IRC channels) that can provide for community effects (and 
	 feedback). We show that these control mechanisms were introduced as a 
	 response to emerging innovative opportunities due the usage of source 
	 packages and heterogeneous learning processes by different groups within 
	 the Debian community.   
Classification-JEL: O30
Keywords: Open Source Software community, Governance Mechanism, Debian Community
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2007
Number: 039
File-URL: http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2007/wp2007-039.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2007039