Overview

Paul David directed a major international networked project on the ‘free / libre / open source’ approach to software development, virtual communities and the broader implications of ‘the “open source” way of working’.

This developed and applied new automated data extraction techniques, quantitative methods of analysis, and empirical findings about the organisation, governance and performance of the large Internet-connected communities that develop free and open source software, such as the Linux kernel, the Mozilla browser and the Apache Webserver. It was undertaken by teams at Stanford University and partner institutions in the UK, France and the Netherlands.

Further information

• A symposium on ‘Advances in research on the Open Source Way of Working’ was held in Oxford in June 2004. Resources are available on the OWLS website.
• Mini-OWLS in Paris: Research Workshop on Libre Software Developers and Development. Organised by Jean-Michel Dalle (Univ. Paris-Pierre et Marie Curie) and Paul David (OII and Stanford-SIEPR) and held at Villa Louis Pasteur, Paris, 7 April 2006.
• The Stanford Project on the Economics of Open Source Software