Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 70 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-70).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Ted Friedman, committee chair; Kathy Fuller-Seeley, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Merrill Morris, Leonard Teel, committee members. Title from title screen. Electronic text (236 p. : col. ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed May 22, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-210).

Tesis para optar al grado de Ingeniero Comercial, Mención Economía / De acuerdo a la teoría del crecimiento económico, el cambio tecnológico es de una relevancia primordial para el desarrollo económico de los países. Es así como se aplican muchas políticas para fomentar la innovación con el objetivo de contribuir al crecimiento. Una de ellas son las leyes de propiedad intelectual, las que permiten a los innovadores internacionalizar los beneficios de sus invenciones; de esta forma incentivan la generación de contenido que de otra manera se perder a dada su naturaleza de bien público. Sin embargo, a su vez, la información es un elemento fundamental en el proceso de innovación; actúa como elemento detonante y facilitador del proceso de creación intelectual, por lo que la restricción del acceso a la información ocasionada por las leyes de propiedad intelectual es contraproducente para el desarrollo de nuevas ideas productivas. En este trabajo desmenuzamos el proceso de innovación y revisamos distintas formas que existen para conservar los incentivos sin la necesidad de restringir el acceso a la informaci ón pública como lo hacen las leyes de propiedad intelectual. Indicamos que un país como Chile puede beneficiarse de leyes de propiedad mas laxas que fomenten el uso de la información en los esfuerzos de innovación. Ejemplificamos con el fenómeno del Software Open Source, que instituciones mas permisivas junto con un uso fructífero de las nuevas tecnologías de comunicación de redes pueden resultar en esfuerzos colaborativos de innovación que disminuyan los costos tanto en términos monetarios como en términos de incertidumbre.

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.

In this thesis, the diffusion of free and open source software (FOSS) on desktop PCs at Middle East Technical University in Ankara (METU) is investigated within the framework of the diffusion of innovation theory. This thesis aims to propose some policies for the migration to FOSS on desktop PCs at METU. The research is conducted through two similar web-based surveys. The first survey was held during 27-28 September 2003 after the examination of exemption for the IS100 course. The second survey was held between 23 March and 24 May 2004 in the whole of the METU campus. This survey was open to all students and academic and non-academic staff with a METU network account. There were 402 participants in the first survey and 1224 in the second. As expected, Microsoft OS rules the desktop PCs within the METU campus. According to the surveys, there is a rather large PC user base which could potentially migrate to GNU/Linux system. In addition to a large amount of data, it has been found out that a migration to FOSS is welcomed greatly by the users if the process is explained on the basis of public economic gains. However personal migration is still difficult if the user is left alone to install any new OS. Activities which will eventually increase the awareness for FOSS at METU, change in the curriculum of the IS100 course, collaboration among METU FOSS users and creation of a software catalog with possible FOSS equivalent for METU courses are some of the propositions which will eventually help the migration process. Furthermore, different innovation-decision models are discussed based on the research findings.

In recent years, there has been growing interest of governments and firms for Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). However, FOSS is still a puzzlement for a wide spectrum of academic disciplines. Social scientists ask why FOSS hackers participate in FOSS if they do not get any monetary rewards. On the other hand firms ask, how a firm can earn money from FOSS. In this study, motivations of FOSS hackers and firms are taken as an interrelated phenomenon. For FOSS hackers, social and technical aspects of FOSS are essential. On the contrary to FOSS hackers, firms have profit oriented goals. In this context, conflicting and coinciding interests of FOSS hackers and firms are investigated through development of FOSS in Turkey. Software industry in Turkey is not developed enough and FOSS may play a prominent role in developing its own software industry. This study discusses FOSS both from the view of hackers and the firms in Turkey. In that respect, social conditions that make hackers voluntarily contribute, discrepancies between attitudes and behaviors of the firms and FOSS licenses are explored. According to these facts, possible FOSS business strategies which may be adopted in Turkey are presented.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [241]-255).

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Peninsula Technikon, 2004. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-143). Also available online.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Peninsula Technikon, 2004. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-159). Also available online.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Peninsula Technikon, 2004. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-159). Also available online.