Contextualising knowledge-making in Linux user groups

Citation

Lin Y (2004) Contextualising knowledge-making in Linux user groups. First Monday, 9 (11). http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1187/1107; https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v9i11.1187

Abstract
A common critique on free/libre open source software (FLOSS) is that FLOSS-oriented products, often mutated from or based on parallel works, are not really innovative. FLOSS' development process and subsequent products (e.g. software packages, maintaining services, or the formation of user groups, etc.) definitely denote a kind of innovation driving our world towards a knowledge-based society. This perspective challenges the conventional notion of innovation in technological and economic arenas from a glocalised perspective. I argue that software development is not solely a matter of technical engineering or economic progress. Rather, it also involves cultural, social and political factors.

Journal
First Monday: Volume 9, Issue 11