The Practice of Free and Open Source Software Processes

Abstract: Free and Open Source Software (F/oss) is widespread today. F/oss is primarily a movement that permits access to software source code, and, en- compasses a software development paradigm that harnesses the efforts of a dis- tributed community. F/oss is not simply a computer science phenomenon, but also a social, economic and legal one. The goal of this survey paper is to examine the operational challenges facing F/oss today, and to review tools, methods and projects that seek to address these. We conclude that the major open challenge is the design of information systems that address community,management,issues with the same rigor as current tools address content management issues, and that provides support for both f/oss production and support processes. Key-words: Free software, open-source software, software licenses. Universit´e de Gen`eve, Michel.Pawlak@cui.unige.ch