Abstract
This paper analyses open source software (OSS) development as an epistemic community where each individual project is perceived as a single epistemic community. OSS development is a learning process where the involved parties contribute to, and learn from the community. It is discovered that theory of epistemic communities does indeed contribute to the understanding of open source software development. But, the important learning process of open source software development is not readily explained.
The paper then introduces situated learning and legitimate peripheral participation as theoretical perspectives. This allows the learning process to be part of the activities in the epistemic community. The combination of situated learning and epistemic communities is shown to be fruitful and capable of explaining some of the empirical observations. In particular the combination of theories can shed light on the motivational issues and group dynamics.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | Proceedings from the conference on Epistemic Cultures and the Practice of Interdisciplinarity |
| Publication date | 2001 |
| Publication status | Published - 2001 |
| Event | Epistemic Cultures and the Practice of Interdisciplinarity - NTNU, Norway Duration: 1 Jan 2001 → … |
Conference
| Conference | Epistemic Cultures and the Practice of Interdisciplinarity |
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| City | NTNU, Norway |
| Period | 01/01/2001 → … |