My dissertation studies the political and corporate reasons behind the adoption of free and open source software technologies in a developing nation, India. This study also attempts to understand the significance of these grassroots technologies for India as it plays on a global arena. How do “free” and “open source software” movements develop in an Indian context and bridge digital divides? The core of the first chapter will establish the questions investigated in this study as well as the significance of this interdisciplinary project for India. It is also important to understand that the varied roles of governments and corporations supporting a new technology, are crucial to its success. Chapter 2 studies the motivations of the Indian government towards adopting free and open-source technologies. The motivations of the industry are different from governmental motivations. In chapter 3, the landscape of Indian software industry players and their reasons for supporting these software technologies are discussed. How do governmental and industry motivations translate? Are they successful and do they live up to their hype? Chapter 4 distinguishes between the hype and reality of the software landscape in India and presents a larger picture of the controversies surrounding software development, in general. A concluding essay of chapter 5 couches the entire project within the process of globalization, speculating its significance for sustainable global information flows.

A new open source 3D reconstruction and evaluation pipeline is described, with a thorough description of the algorithms employed. A new evaluation framework is introduced, which is easy to use for comparison of state-of-the-art multiview reconstruction algorithms. The evaluation framework also includes tools for creating data sets which have ground truth. The source code is available under the GPL; a first for a complete end-to-end reconstruction system.

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This thesis undertakes an empirical study of software evolution by analyzing open source software (OSS) systems. The main purpose is to aid in understanding OSS evolution. The work centers on collecting large quantities of structural data cost-effectively and analyzing such data to understand software evolution <em>dynamics</em> (the mechanisms and causes of change or growth). <br /><br /> We propose a multipurpose systematic approach to extracting program facts (<em>e. g. </em>, function calls). This approach is supported by a suite of C and C++ program extractors, which cover different steps in the program build process and handle both source and binary code. We present several heuristics to link facts extracted from individual files into a combined system model of reasonable accuracy. We extract historical sequences of system models to aid software evolution analysis. <br /><br /> We propose that software evolution can be viewed as <em>Punctuated Equilibrium</em> (<em>i. e. </em>, long periods of small changes interrupted occasionally by large avalanche changes). We develop two approaches to study such dynamical behavior. One approach uses the evolution spectrograph to visualize file level changes to the implemented system structure. The other approach relies on automated software clustering techniques to recover system design changes. We discuss lessons learned from using these approaches. <br /><br /> We present a new perspective on software evolution dynamics. From this perspective, an evolving software system responds to external events (<em>e. g. </em>, new functional requirements) according to <em>Self-Organized Criticality</em> (SOC). The SOC dynamics is characterized by the following: (1) the probability distribution of change sizes is a power law; and (2) the time series of change exhibits long range correlations with power law behavior. We present empirical evidence that SOC occurs in open source software systems.

Open source projects do have requirements; they are, however, mostly informal, text descriptions found in requests, forums, and other correspondence. Understanding such requirements provides insight into the nature of open source projects. Unfortunately, manual analysis of natural language requirements is time-consuming, and for large projects, error-prone. Automated analysis of natural language requirements, even partial, will be of great benefit. Towards that end, I describe the design and validation of an automated natural language requirements classifier for open source software development projects. I compare two strategies for recognizing requirements in open forums of software features. The results suggest that classifying text at the forum post aggregation and sentence aggregation levels may be effective. Initial results suggest that it can reduce the effort required to analyze requirements of open source software development projects. Software development organizations and communities currently employ a large number of software development techniques and methodologies. This implied complexity is also enhanced by a wide range of software project types and development environments. The resulting lack of consistency in the software development domain leads to one important challenge that researchers encounter while exploring this area: specificity. This results in an increased difficulty of maintaining a consistent unit of measure or analysis approach while exploring a wide variety of software development projects and environments. The problem of specificity is more prominently exhibited in an area of software development characterized by a dynamic evolution, a unique development environment, and a relatively young history of research when compared to traditional software development: the open-source domain. While performing research on open source and the associated communities of developers, one can notice the same challenge of specificity being present in requirements engineering research as in the case of closed-source software development. Whether research is aimed at performing longitudinal or cross-sectional analyses, or attempts to link requirements to other aspects of software development projects and their management, specificity calls for a flexible analysis tool capable of adapting to the needs and specifics of the explored context. This dissertation covers the design, implementation, and evaluation of a model, a method, and a software tool comprising a flexible software development analysis framework. These design artifacts use a rule-based natural language processing approach and are built to meet the specifics of a requirements-based analysis of software development projects in the open-source domain. This research follows the principles of design science research as defined by Hevner et. al. and includes stages of problem awareness, suggestion, development, evaluation, and results and conclusion (Hevner et al. 2004; Vaishnavi and Kuechler 2007). The long-term goal of the research stream stemming from this dissertation is to propose a flexible, customizable, requirements-based natural language processing software analysis framework which can be adapted to meet the research needs of multiple different types of domains or different categories of analyses.

Industry platforms, particularly open-source based platforms are emerging as the tipping point of a new trend of interoganizational relationships among firms. They are characterized by a large number of actors with different objectives that come and go. However in order to reap the benefits of network effects, reduce fragmentation and get access to a large pool of resources, coordination dynamics within the different actors to create and innovate the platform are needed. As opposed to traditional literature where a single firm leads the evolution of the platform, a more democratic approach based on the institutionalization of coordination, the implementation of coordination processes and mechanisms is proposed. A study in the form of interviews and interactive forums was carried in the Symbian Platform, specifically in the Symbian Foundation to identify the main coordination dynamics. The results showed that in the case of the Symbian Platform, firms´ first step towards coordination was to establish the formal structure of coordination, in this case the Symbian Foundation. Consequently the Symbian Foundation established the processes and coordination mechanisms by which all of the actors participate and access to a pool of resources. The study describes the evolution from democratic coordination to an increasing selfcoordination promoted by the Symbian Foundation within its members.

Aim:  The aim of this study is to investigate how the “Freemium”                business model works in ArcMage AB and explore what challenges will ArcMage AB as an open-source software industry face when running the “Freemium” business model. Method: A case study was adopted, and a qualitative research and face-to-face interview were used to collect the fundamental data. We use simple sentence and lots of figures to show what the “Freemium” is and what we are find to make the readers’ understanding easier. Result &amp; Conclusions: The results exhibit that ArcMage AB is run following all 9 blocks of the “Freemium” business model. The value proposition and customer relationship are the most challenging for the open-source software industry. Suggestions for future research: Only adopting one case and one interview in the research is the main limitation. Moreover, the limited sample size limited the research in some generalisations. It is difficult to use only one case to represent the whole situation of the open-source software industry. Furthermore, a larger sample size adopted in the research can increase the reliability of the researcher’s generalization. Contribution of the thesis: This research can be regarded as a guideline to the businessman who wants to build an open-source software company in order to avoid the weakness and threats, and take the opportunities.

This thesis undertakes an empirical study of software evolution by analyzing open source software (OSS) systems. The main purpose is to aid in understanding OSS evolution. The work centers on collecting large quantities of structural data cost-effectively and analyzing such data to understand software evolution <em>dynamics</em> (the mechanisms and causes of change or growth). <br /><br /> We propose a multipurpose systematic approach to extracting program facts (<em>e. g. </em>, function calls). This approach is supported by a suite of C and C++ program extractors, which cover different steps in the program build process and handle both source and binary code. We present several heuristics to link facts extracted from individual files into a combined system model of reasonable accuracy. We extract historical sequences of system models to aid software evolution analysis. <br /><br /> We propose that software evolution can be viewed as <em>Punctuated Equilibrium</em> (<em>i. e. </em>, long periods of small changes interrupted occasionally by large avalanche changes). We develop two approaches to study such dynamical behavior. One approach uses the evolution spectrograph to visualize file level changes to the implemented system structure. The other approach relies on automated software clustering techniques to recover system design changes. We discuss lessons learned from using these approaches. <br /><br /> We present a new perspective on software evolution dynamics. From this perspective, an evolving software system responds to external events (<em>e. g. </em>, new functional requirements) according to <em>Self-Organized Criticality</em> (SOC). The SOC dynamics is characterized by the following: (1) the probability distribution of change sizes is a power law; and (2) the time series of change exhibits long range correlations with power law behavior. We present empirical evidence that SOC occurs in open source software systems.

Recent advances in information technology such as Web mapping and location-aware mobile devices have enabled non-experts to create, use and share volumes of spatial data in an increasingly accessible fashion. Such user-generated spatial data is usually referred to as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). Two of the fundamental challenges associated with the exploitation of VGI relate to information overload and extraction of meaning. In order to deal with these challenges and improve the utility of VGI, this thesis investigates the potential of several interactive geovisualization techniques including filtering, dynamic spatial aggregation, linking and brushing, and tag-based visualizations. As a preliminary work to explore and structure the new research field of VGI, a framework of the different types of VGI is elaborated and followed by a review of the challenges and current solutions related to the utilization of VGI. Based on this review, a web-based prototype is developed to serve as a platform for the evaluation of selected geovisualization techniques. The prototype is then used in a series of workshops with rich citizen-generated data related to place-based community assets. The results of the case study show that the implemented geovisualization techniques enable users to find relevant subsets of information and to gain new insights on the data. Based on the potential shown by these results, future research directions are suggested.

Environmental metrics play a significant role in behavioural change, policy formation, education, and industrial decision-making. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a powerful framework for providing information on environmental impacts, but LCA data is under-utilized, difficult to access, and difficult to understand. Some of the issues that are required to be resolved to increase relevancy and use of LCA are accessibility, validation, reporting and publication, and transparency. This thesis proposes that many of these issues can be resolved through the application of open frameworks for LCA software and data. The open source software (OSS), open data, open access, and semantic web movements advocate the transparent development of software and data, inviting all interested parties to contribute. A survey was presented to the LCA community to gauge the community’s interest and receptivity to working within open frameworks, as well as their existing concerns with LCA data. Responses indicated dissatisfaction with existing tools and some interest in open frameworks, though interest in contributing was weak. The responses also pointed out transparency, the expansion of LCA information, and feedback to be desirable areas for improvement. Software for providing online LCA databases was developed according to open source, open data, and linked data principles and practices. The produced software incorporates features that attempt to resolve issues identified in previous literature in addition to needs defined from the survey responses. The developed software offers improvements over other databases in areas of transparency, data structure flexibility, and ability to facilitate user feedback. The software was implemented as a proof of concept, as a test-bed for attracting data contributions from LCA practitioners, and as a tool for interested users. The implementation allows users to add LCA data, to search through LCA data, and to use data from the software in separate independent tools.. The research contributes to the LCA field by addressing barriers to improving LCA data and access, and providing a platform on which LCA database tools and data can develop efficiently, collectively, and iteratively.