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Are There Any Academic Works On Open Source?

Posted by Cliff on from the open-source-in-education dept.

joschen asks: "I have just recently been given the provisional go ahead to do some research in the field of Open Source for a university I am associated with. My first task is to write an introductory paper on the subject. In doing so I have found a distinct lack of academic papers on the subject. I have read ESR's essays which are very interesting but have found that the majority of essays and articles are on Web sites and newsstand magazines rather than reputable academic journals. When writing papers we are always supposed to be building on research that has already been completed or is currently ongoing. Where are the background papers? I am sure a number of Slashdot reader reside in Academia, how have you resolved this problem?"

17 comments

  1. Academic? by milgram · · Score: 1

    Do they need to be peer reviewed? Could you use the documentation created for various projects?

  2. O'Reilly's Open Sources by Bojay+Iverson · · Score: 1

    is probably a useful nod in the right direction, if nothing else. It's here, and the full book is available online. I don't know about any restrictions of usage, though. You'll have to discover those yourself.

    --
    Psychos do not explode when the sunlight hits them, I don't care how fucked up they are.
    1. Re:O'Reilly's Open Sources by SquadBoy · · Score: 1

      Of course all the copyright info is here and they are all free as in speech (no surprise there considering the people writing it) The one by Richard Stallman is very cool and serves to dispel many of the myths about that man.

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      Cypherpunks: Civil Liberty Through Complex Mathematics. Those who live by the sword die by the arrow.
  3. No papers, but a report by Hew · · Score: 2

    Papers on Open Source are definitely scarce. If it is of any help, I and two others prepared a report on Open Source as a software development method for a course in Project Management at the Univeristy of Karlskrona/Ronneby in Sweden. You can download it here in Word format.

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    /cj
    1. Re:No papers, but a report by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 1

      The document about open source only being available in word format is definite irony.

      Care about freedom?

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      I'd rather be lucky than good.
  4. Reference the web site by The+Mayor · · Score: 1

    There are accepted means of referencing web sites in academia. Just reference the website. If you're so arrogant to think your thesis will be read >6 months after you've graduated, then write the authors to see if you can have permission to include the text as an appendix. But, still, reference the website.

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    --Be human.
  5. Research from what angle? by ConversantShogun · · Score: 2

    Psychology, business models, software quality, development process?

    Whatever your answer is, it's possible that whatever research you do will be 'original' in the field.

    After all, if academic research was always based on prior academic research, then we really wouldn't have a lot of academic research, would we?

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    --When you buy proprietary software, you don't get better software. What you get is the right to complain about it.
  6. A couple of possibilities by acoopersmith · · Score: 3
    Usenix has had several open source papers published in the proceedings of various conferences - I'd imagine various ACM & IEEE conferences also have had papers on the subject.

    For alternative views, there's also a couple of papers at:

    1. Re:A couple of possibilities by Antaeus+Feldspar · · Score: 1

      "Alternative" in this case meaning "fallaciously hoisting up a straw man, giving it a famous nametag, and then beating it down again", right? Bezroukov might do for the poster's purposes, if he simply needs to show the existence of papers that are at least nominally academic on Open Source, but Bezroukov is an embarrassment.

      --
      If people are to respect the law, perhaps the law should begin by respecting the people.
  7. One. by Siqnal+11 · · Score: 1

    Here.

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    You are a fucking moron.
  8. Reputable? by Sandlund · · Score: 1

    ...rather than reputable academic journals...

    While I appreciate that you're trying to do research on Open Source, I'm concerned when you cite the lack of material in reputable academic journals. Reputable according to whom?

    Sure, the concept of Open Source recognizes experts, but it implies that the expertise will be acknowledged on the basis of merit rather than by publication in a particular journal. That's a perspective that runs contrary to the traditions of academia -- but a crucial part of the Open Source ethos that you better get your arms around if you want to produce something worthwhile.

  9. at mcmaster.... by Mr.+Quick · · Score: 1

    at mcmaster university up here in the frozen north our fourth year project (4ZP6) it open sourced, we have to sign a license stating that we will open the source code.

    according to one of my profs the license is based on the berkeley one. taking it next year so i don't know how close it is to the GPL.

  10. There bloody should be... by Golantig · · Score: 1

    ...I came accross one on Maralyn Manson in an Anmerican academic music journal.

  11. Re:Where are the papers? by Golantig · · Score: 1

    OMG. That is quite honestly the sickest thing I have seen in my entire life! I like to think it takes a lot to make me squirm, but you succeeded most succesfully. Well done!!

  12. here's one by regexp · · Score: 2

    The Simple Economics of Open Source, a Harvard Business School / NBER working paper downloadable at http://www.people.hbs.edu/jlerner/publications.htm l

  13. Lots of related literature by jaytirth · · Score: 1

    I work on Open Source Issues... There is a bunch of stuff written on open source that you could reference. type 1: Rambling stuff like Raymond's Cathedral and the Bazaar and a bunch of other books (Open Sources, Free For all etc.) Type 2: Serious literature from economics like the link to Josh Lerner's page at HBS (check the references in his paper), another one to look at is: http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=24323 7 this is from the legal literature I think the exciting thing of this field is that you have to bring in new thinking to understand and extend whatever is already there and there is ample opportunity for it. All the best

  14. Sequential Innovation, Patents, And Imitation by akb · · Score: 1

    Doesn't deal directly with open source but nods in its direction.

    Sequential Innovation, Patents, And Imitation

    http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id =206189

    JAMES E. BESSEN, ERIC MASKIN Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) January 2000 MIT Dept. of Economics Working Paper No. 00-01

    Abstract:
    How could such industries as software, semiconductors, and computers have been so innovative despite historically weak patent protection? We argue that if innovation is both sequential and complementary--as it certainly has been in those industries--competition can increase firms' future profits thus offsetting short-term dissipation of rents. A simple model also shows that in such a dynamic industry, patent protection may reduce overall innovation and social welfare. The natural experiment that occurred when patent protection was extended to software in the 1980?s provides a test of this model. Standard arguments would predict that R&D intensity and productivity should have increased among patenting firms. Consistent with our model, however, these increases did not occur. Other evidence supporting our model includes a distinctive pattern of cross-licensing in these
    industries and a positive relationship between rates of innovation and firm entry.