The role of identity for open-source software innovations

• This paper describes and discusses the role of identity in open source software (OSS) innovations. It illustrates identities through four case studies that include the perspectives of OSS communities, OSS companies, and users. The paper concludes that the community may either have its primary function to provide an OSS aura to the OSS company, or it may have its focus on attracting developers and thereby contributing to innovativeness of the OSS community. OSS community identitie sare mainly self-reflective on its contributors, but also help to create rules of the community. Since it is the OSS company that communicates identities to external parties, the coherence and closeness between the OSS company and the community are important.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Identity

open source software

network

community

innovation

acquisition

organisational learning

technology

Business Studies

Företagsekonomi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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