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.

Industry platforms, particularly open-source based platforms are emerging as the tippingpoint of a new trend of interoganizational relationships among firms. They are characterizedby a large number of actors with different objectives that come and go. However in order toreap the benefits of network effects, reduce fragmentation and get access to a large pool ofresources, coordination dynamics within the different actors to create and innovate theplatform 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 implementationof coordination processes and mechanisms is proposed. A study in the form ofinterviews and interactive forums was carried in the Symbian Platform, specifically in theSymbian Foundation to identify the main coordination dynamics. The results showed that in the case of the Symbian Platform, firms´ first step towards coordinationwas to establish the formal structure of coordination, in this case the SymbianFoundation. Consequently the Symbian Foundation established the processes and coordinationmechanisms by which all of the actors participate and access to a pool of resources. Thestudy describes the evolution from democratic coordination to an increasing selfcoordinationpromoted by the Symbian Foundation within its members.

The purpose of this research was to create measures and models for the evaluation of Open Source Software (OSS) projects. An exploratory analysis of the development and maintenance processes in OSS was conducted for this purpose. Data mining and text mining techniques were used to discover knowledge from transactional datasets maintained on OSS projects. Large and comprehensive datasets were used to formulate, test and validate the models. A new multidimensional measure of OSS project performance, called project viability was defined and validated. A theoretical and empirical measurement framework was used to evaluate the new measure. OSS project data from SourceForge.net was used to validate the new measure. Results indicated that project viability is a measure of the performance of OSS projects. Three models were then created for each dimension of project viability. Multiple data mining techniques were used to create the models. Variables identified from process, product, resource and end-user characteristics of the project were used. The use of new variables created through text mining improved the performance of the models. The first model was created for OSS projects in the development phase. The results indicated that end-user involvement could play a significant role in the development of OSS projects. It was also discovered that certain types of projects are more suitable for development in OSS communities. The second model was developed for OSS projects in their maintenance phase. A two-stage model for maintenance performance was selected. The results indicated that high project usage and usefulness could improve the maintenance performance of OSS projects. The third model was developed to investigate the affects of maintenance activities on the project internal structure. Maintenance data for Linux project was used to develop a new taxonomy for OSS maintenance patches. These results were then used to study the affects of various types of patches on the internal structure of the software. It was found that performing proactive maintenance on the software moderates its internal structure.

The aim of this study is to develop a search tool for roads for mobile GIS application. The satellite image of Ankara is the base map of program. There is also a search option for the roads. The application is based on open source libraries, which are ECW for imagery and SQLite for the database of vector. The application is coded in Embedded Visual C++. The study shows that mobile GIS applications can be prepared by the help of open source libraries. There is no need to buy a commercial product to mobilize the GIS.

Middle East Technical University (METU) campus has such an extensive area that reaching the necessary information which affects campus life, such as the locations of the buildings, classrooms, computer labs, and etc. may be very difficult for anyone who does not know the campus well, and even for a student, personnel or a graduate who had a long time in the campus. An interactive campus map and a database structure related to this map which can be accessed by multiple types of users on the Internet can display this information with its geographical locations, and will reduce the &quot / difficulty for reaching information&quot / widely. For this purpose, data of METU were collected from various sources, edited, organized, and inserted into data tables. An interactive campus map displaying the locations of the physical structures and facilities in the campus was created in Scalable Vector Grapics (SVG) standard, and published on the Internet. By JavaScript functions, the map can be browsed with map navigation tools, including zoom in, zoom out, move and information buttons, and layers control. There is a search section on the user interface, which allows users make queries to find building and classroom names, and list the buildings and facilities according to their usage and category types. Data are stored in PostgreSQL database, transmitted through PHP scripts, and can be edited by authorized users through the specialized web interfaces. Lastly, web-based implementation of the application is entirely based on open-source standards.

Spatial Data Analysis (SDA) is relatively narrower and constitutes one of the areas of Spatial Analysis. Geographic Information System (GIS) offers a potentially valuable platform for supporting SDA techniques. Integration of SDA with GIS helps SDA to benefit from the data input, storage, retrieval, data manipulation and display capabilities of GIS. Also, GIS can benefit from SDA techniques in which the integration of these techniques can increase the analysis capabilities of GIS. This integration serves for disseminating and facilitating improved understanding of spatial phenomena. How SDA techniques should be integrated with GIS arise the coupling problem. The complete integration of SDA techniques in GIS can be applied without the support of GIS vendor when the free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) development methodology is properly followed. This approach causes to interpret the coupling problem in a new way. This thesis aims to develop a fully coupled SDA with GIS in FLOSS environment. A fully coupled SDA in free GIS software as FLOSS system is developed by writing nearly 13,000 line Python code in 2.5 years. Usage of this system has reached to nearly 1600 unique visitors, 3000 visits and 8600 page views in two years. As the current status of development in GIS is considered, it is unlikely in commercial market to have full coupled SDA techniques in GIS software. However, it is expected to have more SDA developments in proprietary GIS software in the near future as there is an increasing trend for requesting more sophisticated SDA tools.

<p>Denna rapport jämför ett kommersiellt site survey-verktyg med ett open sourcealternativ.</p><p>En site survey är processen att planera och implementera ett trådlöstnätverk. Det är viktigt för att undvika problem med täckning, störningar samtplacering och konfigurering av accesspunkter.</p><p>För att göra jämförelsen har en metod utvecklats för att jämföra site survey-verktyg. Metoden tar upp och jämför olika kriterier i form av verktygens förmåga att hantera signalstyrka, störningar, quality of service, manuella site surveys, virtuella site surveys, dokumentering av resultat samt verktygens förmåga att underlätta vid placering och konfigurering av accesspunkter. Förutom detta tas även mjukvarornas gränssnitt och användarvänlighet upp. Metoden skulle dock kunna utökas ytterligare för att innefatta t ex säkerhet, inlärningstid och support, för att på så sätt bidra till en bättre jämförelse.De verktyg som har jämförts är open source-mjukvaran Kismet och den kommersiella mjukvaran InterpretAir.</p><p>InterpretAir har visat sig ha en bättre funktionalitet på alla punkter och anses därför vara den mest lämpliga mjukvaran vid en site survey. Detta kan dock ha berott på att Kismet, trots att det utsetts till det lämpligaste open sourcealternativet, inte är ett renodlat site survey-verktyg och därför inte har samma fokus på just denna funktionalitet.</p>

<p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Öppen programvara kan enklast beskrivas som programvara där källkoden är tillgänglig, vilket gör det möjligt att modifiera, utveckla, kopiera och distribuera denna om så önskas (Statskontoret, 2004). Enligt Statskontorets hemsida (2004) används öppen programvara främst för att uppnå ett större oberoende av pris- och licensvillkor inom landets statliga institutioner. Eftersom nyttjandet av öppen programvara medför många fördelar anser Statskontoret (2005) att den offentliga förvaltningen ska beakta möjligheterna med denna typ av mjukvara i större utsträckning. I en rapport från Statskontoret (2004) om erfarenheter av öppen programvara inom den offentliga förvaltningen, anges att majoriteten har valt att anskaffa öppen programvara av besparingsskäl.</p><p>Vi har i denna uppsats undersökt högskolors och universitets syn på öppen programvara. Detta för att erhålla kunskap om de grundläggande orsakerna bakom olika mjukvaruinvesteringar inom dessa lärosäten. I dagsläget används inte öppen programvara i den utsträckning som är möjlig inom högskolor och universitet i Sverige. Vad beror det på? Vilka faktorer eller kriterier vägs in vid mjukvaruinvesteringsbeslut inom dessa organisationer? Hur har utvecklingen av användandet av öppen programvara sett ut på högskolor och universitet i Sverige, historiskt sett? Syftet är att kartlägga orsakerna bakom investeringar i eller avsaknaden av öppen programvara på högskolor och universitet i Sverige.</p><p>Då vi haft för avsikt att få en uppfattning om orsaker bakom investeringar i öppen programvara på högskolor och universitet i Sverige, har vi valt att göra kvalitativa intervjuer genom att besöka respektive studieobjekt. Detta då vi varit i behov av information som beskriver sakförhållanden, skeenden och ger uttryck för personliga uppfattningar, för att uppnå vårt syfte och besvara uppsatsens problemställning. När det gäller urvalet av respondenter för undersökningen består populationen av samtliga universitet och högskolor i Sverige, statliga såväl som privata. Vi har valt att begränsa vår undersökning till ett urval av populationen, där samplet består av tre lärosäten som har eller saknar erfarenheter av öppen programvara.</p><p>De mest centrala iakttagelserna vi gjort i undersökningen är att samtliga universitet/högskolor som deltagit i undersökningen anger att investeringar i öppen programvara inte beror på besparingsskäl, tvärtom är denna typ av programvara ett dyrare alternativ för läroanstalterna. Något annat som observerats är att flera läroanstalter saknar en tydlig supportfunktion för öppen programvara. Statskontorets (2004) anger dock att öppen programvara främst används för att uppnå ett större oberoende av pris- och licensvillkor. Detta oberoende uppfattar läroanstalterna emellertid som mindre tryggt, då allt ansvar förs över på användaren själv, vad gäller uppdateringar, modifieringar etc. Detta överrensstämmer inte med det som anges i rapporten från Statskontorets (2004) vad gäller orsaker bakom investeringar i öppen programvara.</p><p>Vi anser att universitet och högskolor i Sverige borde vara politiskt oberoende institutioner och ha ett ansvar som gentemot studenter. Detta genom att erbjuda produkter inom utbildningarnas områden som inte valts på grund av en stor aktör, vilkens makt på marknaden kan liknas vid ett monopol. Läroanstalterna har enligt vår åsikt en mycket viktig roll vad gäller den fortsatta utvecklingen och användandet av öppen programvara. Vi anser därför att dessa institutioner borde beakta valmöjligheten, inte endast på grund av ekonomiska skäl utan också för att bidra till en ökad konkurrens på mjukvarumarknaden.</p> / <p>Abstract</p><p>Open Source Software (OSS) can be defined as software where the source code is accessible by anyone who wants to modify, develop, copy and/or distribute it (Statskontoret, 2004). According to the website of the Swedish government agency for public management (2004) OSS is utilized mainly to become more independent of pricing and licensing conditions within the public institutions in Sweden. As the use of OSS comprises a number of advantages, the agency for public management (2005) believes that the public sector should consider the possibility of using this type of software to a greater extent. In a report from the agency for public management (2004) about the experience of OSS within the public sector, it is stated that the majority have chosen to acquire OSS due to reduction in costs.</p><p>In this essay we have examined universities view on OSS in order to obtain knowledge regarding the basic reasons behind different software investments within these institutions. Today OSS is not utilized to its full extent within institutions of higher education in Sweden. Why is that? What factors or criteria are taken into consideration when making software investment decisions and how has the use of this type of software evolved over the years within these institutions? The purpose of this essay is to survey the reasons behind investments in, or the lack of OSS within universities in Sweden.</p><p>As our intention is to get an idea of the reasons behind investments in OSS within these institutions, we have chosen to make qualitative interviews by visiting each object for the study. We have chosen this method as we have been in need of information which describes the course of events and expresses individual opinions, in order to achieve the purpose of the essay and answer the questions stated in the presentation of the problem. Regarding the selection of respondents for the research, the population consists of all universities in Sweden, both public and private. We have chosen to limit the research to a selection of the population, where the sample consists of three universities which have or lack experience from OSS.</p><p>The most important findings we have made in the research is that all universities that have participated states that investments made in OSS is not due to financial reasons, as they believe that larger investments in this type of software instead would increase the costs. Something else that we have observed is that several universities believe that OSS lacks an apparent support function. However, the agency for public management (2004) states that OSS mainly is used to become more independent of pricing and licensing conditions. This independency is on the other hand looked upon as less secure, by the universities, as the whole responsibility is resting on the shoulders of the user, concerning updates, modifications etc. This does not apply with what is stated in the reports from the Swedish agency for public management (2004) regard-ing the reasons behind investments in OSS.</p><p>We believe that institutions of higher education should be politically independent and have a responsibility towards the students. This, by offering products within the educational areas that are not chosen due to the power of one multinational company, which bears the resemblance of a monopoly. Universities have according to our opinion a very important roll to play in the future of OSS. Hence we think these institutions should consider the option, not only due to financial reasons but also in order to contribute to an increased competition in the software market.</p>

Gemeinsamer Workshop von Universitaetsrechenzentrum und Professur Rechnernetze und verteilte Systeme (Fakultaet fuer Informatik) der TU Chemnitz. Workshop-Thema: Infrastruktur der ¨Digitalen Universitaet¨ Der Vortrag befaßt sich mit der Kosten- und Preissituation bei Informationsprodukten. Die Effekte von Preisdifferenzierungen und Produktbindungen werden betrachtet. Den Abschluß bilden Geschäftsmodelle und Lizenztypen zu den Konzepten ¨freie¨ Software und ¨Open Source¨.

Gemeinsamer Workshop von Universitaetsrechenzentrum und Professur "Rechnernetze und verteilte Systeme" der Fakultaet fuer Informatik der TU Chemnitz. Workshop-Thema: Mobilitaet Der Vortrag gibt einen Überblick über Content Management Systeme und Application Server aus dem Opensource-Bereich.