Understanding Open Source Software Development

Annotation The first rigorous, complete analysis of open source software: methodologies, technologies, economics, and psychosocial dynamics.

-- The one-stop reference to open source development for decision-makers, researchers, and students.

-- How open source really works: objective, authoritative discussions based on proven IT development frameworks.

-- Is open source sustainable -- and what can it teach the entire software development community?

Increasingly, developers, IT managers, and business decision-makers are being called upon to make critical decisions about open source technology -- and as the open source movement grows, researchers and students are also seeking an objective guide to the realities of open source. Understanding Open Source Software Development is the first objective, rigorous, complete treatment of the realities of open source development: its methodologies, technologies, economics, and psycho-social dynamics. Joseph Feller and Brian Fitzgerald begin with a basic primer on open source: its history, goals, participants, and key implications for developers and users. Next, they offer a rigorous analysis of the open source development process, drawing on classic approaches such as Zachman's framework for IS architecture and Checkland's CATWOE Framework. Along the way, you'll discover what defines a software project as open source; how open source projects are organized and managed; what motivates open source developers; the strengths and