Title: Toward understanding new feature request systems as participation architectures for supporting open innovation

Authors: Michelle W. Purcell (College of Computing & Informatics Drexel University)

Abstract: Most research regarding innovation in open source software communities pertains to identifying supporting conditions for promoting code contribution as a way to innovate the software. Instead, this paper seeks to identify social and technological affordances of new feature request systems and their potential to support open innovation through integration of peripheral community members’ ideas for advancing the software. Initial findings from the first of a planned study of multiple open source software communities are presented to identify attributes of effective participation architectures.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.

Title: Public Domain Rank: Identifying Notable Individuals with the Wisdom of the Crowd

Authors: Allen B. Riddell (Neukom Institute for Computational Science Leslie Center for the Humanities Dartmouth College)

Abstract: Identifying literary, scientific, and technical works of enduring interest is challenging. Few are able to name significant works across more than a handful of domains or languages. This paper introduces an automatic method for identifying authors of notable works throughout history. Notability is defined using the record of which works volunteers have made available in public domain digital editions. A significant benefit of this bottom-up approach is that it also provides a novel and reproducible index of notability for all individuals with Wikipedia pages. This method promises to supplement the work of cultural organizations and institutions seeking to publicize the availability of notable works and prioritize works for preservation and digitization.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.

Title: On the role of FOSS business models and participation architectures in supporting open innovation

Authors: Michelle W. Purcell (College of Computing & Informatics Drexel University)

Abstract: Most research regarding innovation in free and open source software (FOSS) pertains to identifying supporting conditions for promoting code contribution. This raises concerns about the ability of FOSS communities to remain innovative based only on the perspectives of developer-users. Preliminary research suggests different open source business models may provide motivation to support greater involvement of non-developer users. This research focuses on understanding the relationship between business model and supporting participation architectures, beyond users’ code contributions, to enable user participation in design of the software.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.

Title: Volunteer Management in Open Source Communities

Authors: Ann Barcomb (Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Abstract: Open source community management is largely ad-hoc and relies on practitioner guides. Yet there is a great deal of information about volunteer management in the general volunteering literature, open source literature and general volunteering guides which could be relevant to open source communities if it were categorized and validated. Bringing these different sources of information together also reveals gaps in our understanding of volunteer management in open source which I hope to address.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.

Title: Collaborative Systems with Applications for Social Good

Authors: Rakshit Agrawal (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Abstract: Crowdsourcing and collaborative systems have become an important part of Computer Science system deployments. The research discussed in this paper designs and explores the use of collaborative systems for crowdsourced user participation in different kinds of tasks. Application focus of projects discussed here is mostly towards social good. This paper provides an overview of my research objectives and approach, and identifies my work on both usability of systems as well as data specific definitions for them. Acknowledging the importance of user participation in development projects, I work on structuring systems in a way that they can extract best response from participants and help in the overall goal. The paper also describes my objectives to study user behavior based on their participation in various collaborative systems.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.

Title: Utilization and Development Contribution of Open Source Software in Japanese IT Companies: An Exploratory Study of the Effect on Business Growth (2nd report based on 2014 survey)

Authors: Terutaka Tansho (Collaboration Center, Shimane University), Tetsuo Noda (Faculty of Law & Literature, Shimane University)

Abstract: The usage of Open Source Software (OSS) has been extended in a wide range of business fields not only IT industries. Behind this current situation, there are tremendous inputs by the volunteer engineers in the development communities. In this series of studies, we have conducted questionnaire survey to Japanese IT companies in 2012 and 2013, and then analyzed the relation between OSS utilization and development contribution, and how these affect the business growth. Our study revealed that Japanese IT companies are rather free riders of OSS, the volume of development contributions are far less than that of utilization. From our previous studies, it was anticipated that some OSS-related factors were affecting the business growth; however, clear evidence has not been found. In autumn 2014, we conducted the questionnaire survey for the third time and this paper presents the survey results as the second report of the continued research. We constructed the simplified Logistic Model to investigate the influential factors on business growth. However, no clear evidence was found as the same as the previous study. In summary, we conclude that there are some form of relationships between OSS utilization and development contribution, but these are not the determinant factors on the business growth in the Japanese IT companies at present.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.

Title: An Investigation of Migrating from Proprietary RTOS to Embedded Linux

Authors: Oscar Muchow, David Ustarbowski, Imed Hammouda (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

Abstract:Embedded systems and the open source operating system Linux have been going hand in hand for a long time now. Companies using Linux for their embedded products are praising it for being time and cost efficient when it comes to performance and maintainability. Another solution for embedded
systems is a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS). The goal of this this paper is to investigate whether a traditional proprietary RTOS can be substituted with embedded Linux, and if this kind of migration can lead to reduced licensing costs and increased general quality of the system. We used a qualitative research method for this case-study. The investigation was conducted with interviews as the main source of information. The result of this study is an empirical model we named ‘Embedded Linux Adoption Model’. We concluded that in many cases a proprietary RTOS can be substituted with embedded Linux without affecting the critical needs of the system. The study also showed that many embedded system developers are very receptive to open source solutions and could think of contributing to the
community.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.

Title: The FLOSS History in Japan: An Ethnographic Approach

Authors: Jun Iio (Chuo University), Masayuki Hatta (Surugadai University), Ko Kazaana (Cybozu, Inc.)

Abstract: This paper reports an overview of the Internet history project which especially focuses on Free / Libre / Open-Source Software (FLOSS) history. The project adopts an ethnographical approach and it aims to compose a chronicle on the growth of FLOSS history in Japan. An outcome of the project is expected to be not only a record but a compass for younger generations. The project has already started and conducted several interviews. In this paper, an interim report of our analysis based on the interviews is presented.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.

Title: Collaborative OER Course Development – Remix and Reuse Approach

Authors: Sheng Hung, Chung (Wawasan Open University Penang, Malaysia)

Abstract: This paper presents the initiative of OER course development for the undergraduate course, Software Scalability and Reengineering using Wikibooks which was recently completed in Semester II, July 2014 in Wawasan Open University (WOU), Malaysia. The initiative presents the phases involved for the development of OER-based course materials namely the OER course integration using Wikibooks, evaluation of Quality Assurance (QA) in OER learning content and the design of OER course material. The learning design for the computing courses with engagement of learning experiences and feedbacks from different stakeholders in Open Distance Learning (ODL) environment are taken into consideration as one of the major components in the OER-based course development phases. The OER-based course TSE304/05 Software Scalability and Reengineering comprises of course units, self-tests, unit practice exercises and activities focused on supporting distance learners to fulfill self-directed learning. Evaluations and studies are being carried out at end of the semester by the course team members on the primary aspects focusing on assessments and course learning outcomes. The OER course development has successfully carried out with the integration of four Wikibooks as major resources mainly “Introduction to Software Engineering”, “A-Level Computing”, “Embedded Systems” and “Embedded Control Systems Design” to promote the use and understanding of Wikibooks and building a learning community in ODL environment.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.

Title: Large Scale, Open Cognitive Collaboration of Distributed Crowds

Authors: Bei Yan (Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California)

Abstract: Drawing on communication, sociology and social psychology theories, my research focuses on large scale, open cognitive collaboration of distributed crowds. I study how individuals interact and collaborate with each other via mediated communication channels, applying social network analysis, conducting online experiments and utilizing big data dumps of online communities, such as Wikipedia, Stack Overflow, Github and Threadless.com.

This contribution to OpenSym 2015 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2015 proceedings (or companion) on or after August 19, 2015.