Open source software develpment releases the hold that companies have over their products. Open source can be seen an example of produsage in how it incorporate its community to become involved with its projects to improve the service it provides for the benefit of all.Source code was originally shared amongst programmers in the beginning of computer technology, however, as the computer evolved into a personal home item, corporations began to conceal their work from others, in turn not allowing others to offer their knowledge to their projects. This causes problems in a variety of ways. With a corporate identity, goals are mainly towards releasing a final product, which in most cases, it used for three to five years before being replaced by a revised version. During this time, multiple problems and dislikes can emerge, however usually users are unable to change these because of accessibility constraits and usually unable to contact the creators about their suggested improvements.
Open source software development has been described as "development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process" and works on a different model to that of software production. Participants of any nature are able to contribute to the project due to the reliance on the community to improve the service. Those involed release any reservations on their work, instead sharing it with others to seek opinions and ask for help on queries. In this scenario, revisions are constantly being made on content to make it better and benefit the community intentions. Since this leads to projects being never entirely completed, updates are often sent out to users so that they are able to have any complications resolved and always providing users with the latest revisions of the service. Any problems that do arise are able to be addressed straight away by the community to prevent others from having the same problems.
1 comment:
Tash, your thoughts regarding open source software are evidenced well through your description of the role 'produsers' play in its development. There are a few issues related to open source software which I would like to add to your comprehensive post, and these relate to produsage, reliability, and commercial adoption.
On reading your post I was triggered to think of the vast majority of online users who are merely 'users' of open source software as opposed to 'produsers'. It can be noted that only those with background knowledge in programming and software can actually become active participants in the facilitation of this online format. The world of open source software is highly reliant on voluntary contributions which expand the total pool of knowledge to create software which is more complete and valuable than anything compiled by a single team of programmers. As you mentioned, the practice of this kind of sharing means that improvements to current software can be fixed by someone capable, and made readily available to wider publics who may not have the knowledge and skill sets to do so. In my opinion, there is a skew towards users as opposed to produsers taking advantage of open source software availability, however as the skills of the younger generation are being more concentrated towards technology in education, there will be a shift towards produsage in the future.
Also I just wanted to mention that the open source market still has major reliability issues which are hindering its adoption in the commercial market. In comparison to commercially purchased software, creators of open source software are not necessarily liable for any damage or problems it may cause users’ computers or business networks. It is circumstances such as these which lead large companies to still purchase expensive software packages, even though they may not necessarily be more efficient for their intended purpose.
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