Towards an Understanding of FLOSS

Infrastructures, Materiality and the Digital Business Ecosystem

Abstract

In  this  paper  we  present  empirical  work  detailing  the  engagement  practices  of  a  large  FLOSS  project,  the  Digital  Business  Ecosystem  (DBE).  In  common  with  many  other FLOSS projects, the DBE project focused on the development of infrastructural software  components.  Infrastructures  and  FLOSS  software  exhibit  multiplicity:  as  objects  they  both  change  and  stay  the  same.  Whilst  the  implications  of  multiplicity  with  respect  to  infrastructure  have  been  well-documented,  with  respect  to  FLOSS,  they   remain   under-explored. Through examining   how   the   DBE   engaged   new   participants we were able to explore the nature of the FLOSS software object by asking the implied question: engagement with what? We draw on recent analysis by Law  and  Singleton  to  show  how  the  innovative  yet  non-existent  potentiality  of  the DBE was as significant to engagement as its steadily growing codebase. We argue that acknowledging  the  materiality  and  immateriality  of  the  FLOSS  software  object  has  important consequences for management of, and engagement with, FLOSS projects.