| 1. |
- Butler, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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An Exploration of Openness in Hardware and Software Through Implementation of a RISC-V Based Desktop Computer
- 2022
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Ingår i: OpenSym '22. - New York, NY, USA : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9781450398459 - 9781450398466
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Open hardware and open source software platforms bring benefits to both implementers and users in the form of system adaptability and maintainability, and through the avoidance of lock-in, for example. Development of the \riscv\ Instruction Set Architecture and processors during the last ten years has made the implementation of a desktop computer using open hardware, including open processors, and open source software an approaching possibility. We use the SiFive Unmatched development board and Ubuntu Linux, and the recorded experiences of system builders using the Unmatched board to explore the extent to which it is possible to create an open desktop computer. The work identifies current limitations to implementing an open computer system, which lie mainly at the interface between the operating system and hardware components. Potential solutions to the challenges uncovered are proposed, including greater consideration of openness during the early stages of product design. A further contribution is made by an account of the synergies arising from open collaboration in a private-collective innovation process.
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| 2. |
- Butler, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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Considerations and challenges for the adoption of open source components in software-intensive businesses
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Systems and Software. - : Elsevier. - 0164-1212 .- 1873-1228. ; 186
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Component-Based Software Development is a conventional way of working for software-intensive businesses and OpenSource Software (OSS) components are frequently considered by businesses for adoption and inclusion in softwareproducts. Previous research has found a variety of practices used to support the adoption of OSS components, in-cluding formally specified processes and less formal, developer-led approaches, and that the practices used continue todevelop. Evolutionary pressures identified include the proliferation of available OSS components and increases in thepace of software development as businesses move towards continuous integration and delivery. We investigate workpractices used in six software-intensive businesses in the primary and secondary software sectors to understand currentapproaches to OSS component adoption and the challenges businesses face establishing effective work practices to eval-uate OSS components. We find businesses have established processes for evaluating OSS components and communitiesthat support more complex and nuanced considerations of the cost and risks of component adoption alongside matterssuch as licence compliance and functional requirements. We also found that the increasing pace and volume of softwaredevelopment within some businesses provides pressure to continue to evolve software evaluation processes.
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| 3. |
- Butler, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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Maintaining interoperability in open source software : A case study of the Apache PDFBox project
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Systems and Software. - : Elsevier. - 0164-1212 .- 1873-1228. ; 159
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Software interoperability is commonly achieved through the implementation of standards for communication protocols or data representation formats. Standards documents are often complex, difficult to interpret, and may contain errors and inconsistencies, which can lead to differing interpretations and implementations that inhibit interoperability. Through a case study of two years of activity in the Apache PDFBox project we examine day-to-day decisions made concerning implementation of the PDF specifications and standards in a community open source software (OSS) project. Thematic analysis is used to identify semantic themes describing the context of observed decisions concerning interoperability. Fundamental decision types are identified including emulation of the behaviour of dominant implementations and the extent to which to implement the PDF standards. Many factors influencing the decisions are related to the sustainability of the project itself, while other influences result from decisions made by external actors, including the developers of dependencies of PDFBox. This article contributes a fine grained perspective of decision-making about software interoperability by contributors to a community OSS project. The study identifies how decisions made support the continuing technical relevance of the software, and factors that motivate and constrain project activity.
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| 4. |
- Butler, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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On business adoption and use of reproducible builds for open and closed source software
- 2023
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Ingår i: Software quality journal. - : Springer Nature Switzerland AG. - 0963-9314 .- 1573-1367. ; 31:3, s. 687-719
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reproducible builds (R-Bs) are software engineering practices that reliably create bit-for-bit identical binary executable files from specified source code. R-Bs are applied in someopen source software (OSS) projects and distributions to allow verification that the distrib-uted binary has been built from the released source code. The use of R-Bs has been advo-cated in software maintenance and R-Bs are applied in the development of some OSS secu-rity applications. Nonetheless, industry application of R-Bs appears limited, and we seekto understand whether awareness is low or if significant technical and business reasonsprevent wider adoption. Through interviews with software practitioners and business man-agers, this study explores the utility of applying R-Bs in businesses in the primary and sec-ondary software sectors and the business and technical reasons supporting their adoption.We find businesses use R-Bs in the safety-critical and security domains, and R-Bs are valu-able for traceability and support collaborative software development. We also found thatR-Bs are valued as engineering processes and are seen as a badge of software quality, butwithout a tangible value proposition. There are good engineering reasons to use R-Bs inindustrial software development, and the principle of establishing correspondence betweensource code and binary offers opportunities for the development of further applications.
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| 5. |
- Butler, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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On Company Contributions to Community Open Source Software Projects
- 2021
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 0098-5589 .- 1939-3520. ; 47:7, s. 1381-1401
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The majority of contributions to community open source software (OSS) projects are made by practitioners acting on behalf of companies and other organisations. Previous research has addressed the motivations of both individuals and companies to engage with OSS projects. However, limited research has been undertaken that examines and explains the practical mechanisms or work practices used by companies and their developers to pursue their commercial and technical objectives when engaging with OSS projects. This research investigates the variety of work practices used in public communication channels by company contributors to engage with and contribute to eight community OSS projects. Through interviews with contributors to the eight projects we draw on their experiences and insights to explore the motivations to use particular methods of contribution. We find that companies utilise work practices for contributing to community projects which are congruent with the circumstances and their capabilities that support their short- and long-term needs. We also find that companies contribute to community OSS projects in ways that may not always be apparent from public sources, such as employing core project developers, making donations, and joining project steering committees in order to advance strategic interests. The factors influencing contributor work practices can be complex and are often dynamic arising from considerations such as company and project structure, as well as technical concerns and commercial strategies. The business context in which software created by the OSS project is deployed is also found to influence contributor work practices.
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| 6. |
- Fischer, Thomas, Dr.-Ing. 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Achieving Conformance to Document Standards : Can PDF Files Conform to the PDF/A-1b Specification?
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Standardization Research. - : IGI Global. - 2470-8542 .- 2470-8550. ; 19:1, s. 1-32
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the context of long-term archival of digital assets, file formats that are standardized and designed for longevity such as PDF/A are preferred. However, due to the complexity of and ambiguities in PDF standards, it is far from trivial to either create standard-conformant files or check the conformance of any given file. This study investigates the challenges when checking real-world PDF files from public sector organizations meant for long-term archival for PDF/A conformance. Results show that only a small set of PDF files claims to conform to the PDF/A-1b specification variant and even fewer files pass conformance checks by various conformance checking tools. Challenges for conformance checking tools include both ambiguities in the standards’ technical specifications and limitations in the implementation.
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| 7. |
- Fischer, Thomas, Dr.-Ing. 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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On challenges for achieving conformance of files to document standards : The case of PDF/A-1b
- 2021
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Ingår i: Joint Proceedings EURAS 2021. - Aachen : Verlag Mainz. - 9783958864214 - 395886421X ; , s. 171-190
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- File formats that are standardized and designed for longevity, such as PDF/A, are preferred in the context of long-term archival of digital assets. However, it is far from trivial to either create standard-conformant files or check the conformance of any given file due to the complexity and ambiguities in PDF standards. This study aims to investigate challenges when checking PDF/A conformance for real-world PDF files from public sector organizations that are intended for long-term-archival. Findings show that only a small proportion of the PDF files claim to conform to the PDF/A-1b specification and even fewer files pass conformance checks performed through the use of various conformance checking tools. Challenges for conformance checking tools include both ambiguities in the technical specifications of standards and limitations in the implementation of software.
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| 8. |
- Fischer, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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On challenges for achieving conformance to document standards : Can PDF files conform to the PDF/A-1b specification?
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings 25th EURAS Annual Standardisation Conference. - Aachen : Verlagshaus Mainz. - 9783958863552 - 3958863558 ; , s. 21-40
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the context of long-term archival of digital assets, file formats that are standardized and designed for longevity such as PDF/A are preferred. However, due to the complexity and ambiguities in PDF standards, it is far from trivial to either create standard-conformant files or check the conformance of any given file. This study aims at investigating the challenges when checking real-world PDF files from public sector organizations meant for long-term archival for PDF/A conformance. Results show that only a small set of PDF files claims to conform to the PDF/A-1b specification variant and even fewer files pass conformance checks by various conformance checking tools. Challenges for conformance checking tools include both ambiguities in the standards’ technical specifications and limitations in the implementation.
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| 9. |
- Fischer, Thomas, Dr.-Ing. 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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On PDF/A Conformance and Font Usage in PDF Documents Provided by Public Sector Organizations
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Standardization Research. - : IGI Global. - 2470-8542 .- 2470-8550. ; 20:1, s. 1-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of appropriate fonts and file formats for long-term maintenance of digital assets is a challenge for organizations in the public sector. The article reports from a study which investigated the PDF/A conformance and font usage in PDF files provided by Swedish public sector organizations (PSOs). This article presents an analysis of the PDF files’ properties and font usage including a categorization of fonts’ licenses. This study is motivated by the PDF/A-1 standard’s requirement that ‘only fonts that are legally embeddable in a file for unlimited, universal rendering shall be used.’ Analyzing PDF sets from three PSOs, the finding shows that the proportion of files that claim or succeed at conforming to PDF/A greatly varies among the sets despite similar backgrounds. Although the most popular way to make use of fonts is by embedding a subset of the font data, for some fonts expected to be ‘always available,’ a considerable proportion of PDF files does not include any font data. This puts the onus of locating this data on the PDF reader which is problematic for long-term archival
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| 10. |
- Gamalielsson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring Influences Between ICT Standards and Their Implementations in Open Source Software Projects : The Case of H.264
- 2021
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Ingår i: Joint Proceedings EURAS 2021. - Aachen : Verlag Mainz. - 9783958864214 - 395886421X ; , s. 211-226
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Novel results concerning influences between ICT standards and their implementations in open source software (OSS) are presented in this paper. Findings draw from observations and analysis related to the ITU-T H.264 standard and two OSS projects (OpenH264 and x264) that implement the standard. The study reports on a characterisation of organisations that influence and control the H.264 standard, organisations that influence and control OSS projects implementing the H.264 standard, and influences between contributors involved with the H.264 standard and OSS projects that implement the standard. Furthermore, projects for standardisation and implementation of H.264 are contrasted with respect to the mix of contributing organisations, and findings are put in relation to organisational strategies of contributing organisations and previous research.
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