Social Web: Web 2.0 Technologies to Enhance Knowledge Communities - Community-Built Databases: Research and Development - page 12

1.5 Social Web and Software Development Communities
In software development communities, online collaboration has been an integral
part of the open source movement for at least the past 10 years. For example,
Ubuntu, a Linux operating system, has been developed and maintained partly by a
community of volunteers who collaborate virtually with each other (see http://
www.ubuntu.com ). These voluntary efforts range from highly technical tasks,
such as coding, testing, and debugging the software, to nontechnical, administra-
tive tasks, such as designing a user interface, writing documentations, and proof-
reading. Traditionally, Ubuntu “members” or “contributors” collaborate using Wiki
tools where end users help write manuals and supporting documents. Recently,
Ubuntu volunteers have adopted other Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and RSS
(really simple syndicated) feeds to communicate with each other. Over the years,
subcommunities have also emerged as “grass root” groups establishing themselves
to serve the needs of local Ubuntu users. For example, on Planet.Ubuntu.com, there
are currently over 20 virtual subcommunities serving specific locales such as
Argentina, Chile, Indonesia, and South Africa, as well as French-, Chinese-, and
Italian-speaking user groups. There are also over 200 self-organized local support
teams (known as LoCo Teams) to provide offline support and face-to-face meetings
among their members.
The open source software development movement like Ubuntu can be traced as
far back as the early 1980s. A “free” software movement called the “GNU Project”
has been credited with creating the back-end components of what is now known as
the Linux operating system (see http://www.gnu.org ). Since then, millions of copies
of GNU/Linux software have been distributed under more familiar names such as
RedHat, Debian, and of course Ubuntu. Like in the Ubuntu communities, GNU
volunteers work together virtually using various collaboration tools including Web
2.0 technologies such as blogs and online forums.
These “grass root” movements in software development extend beyond the
nonprofit sector. Sun Microsystems (now owned by Oracle) created virtual com-
munities such as OpenJDK, GlassFish, and NetBeans to harness the collaborative
power of the voluntary mass (see http://www.java.net ). Like Ubuntu volunteers,
members of these virtual communities communicate with each other using various
Web 2.0 tools ranging from listservs, discussion forums, and blogs to more recent
technologies such as Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook groups. However, these
company-sponsored communities are partly managed by their corporate sponsors
and less self-directed than those created for Ubuntu and GNU.
Regardless of the nature of their sponsorship, these online communities provide
their members with networking opportunities with other members in similar profes-
sions or with similar interests. These social opportunities can also add to the mem-
bers' professional statures who become actively involved in the various projects in
the online communities. As a result, these communities can be classified as both
passion centric and opportunistic [ 10 ]. Consequently, members on these commu-
nities have incentives (either intrinsic or extrinsic) to engage with and contribute to