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May 2021

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New report: The coproduction of open source software by volunteers and big tech firms
by Mathieu O'Neil 28 May '21

28 May '21

***Apologies for multiple exposure*** The News and Media Research Centre is pleased to announce the launch of the Digital Commons Policy Council’s inaugural report. DATE/TIME Wed, 9 June 2021 10:00 – 11:00 CET (Paris) 18:00 – 19:00 AEST (Canberra) REGISTER FOR ZOOM LINK https://www.eventbrite.com/e/news-media-research-centre-report-launch-ticke… TITLE The coproduction of open source software by volunteers and big tech firms AUTHORS Mathieu O’Neil, Xiaolan Cai, Laure Muselli, Fred Pailler and Stefano Zacchiroli SUMMARY This report maps how firms are collaborating with communities of unpaid volunteers to produce open source code, used in most IT applications and infrastructures. We map firm employee contributions to top GitHub repositories, and analyse how the IT press portrays this coproduction. We also show how IT firm and foundation employee presentations at open source conferences reveal contrasting visions of digital infrastructure, business models, and the firm-community relationship. Big tech firms such as Amazon are using cloud computing and Software as a Service to transform open source software, which is intended to be shared and modified, into closed assets. The report outlines strategic responses to big tech appropriation and reviews current debates about the recognition of volunteer work, money in FOSS, software licenses and universal basic incomes. The report also features invited comments exploring alternative perspectives by French open source specialists from the fields of academia, industry and activism. SCHEDULE 18:00-18:05 (10:00-10:05 CET Paris) Introduction and launch Prof. Kerry McCallum, Director N&MRC, University of Canberra 18:05-18:15 Firm-volunteer coproduction on GitHub and in the IT media Dr Mathieu O’Neil, University of Canberra 18:15-18:25 Firm discourses about open source, ongoing research Dr Laure Muselli, Telecom Paris Dr Stefano Zacchiroli, Université de Paris / Inria 18:25-18:30 Some strategic responses to big tech appropriation Dr Mathieu O’Neil, University of Canberra 18:30-19:00 Debate, Q&A The coproduction of open source software by volunteers and big tech firms report was made possible by the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Ford Foundation’s Critical Digital Infrastructure fund (2019-2020). THE COPRODUCTION OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE BY VOLUNTEERS AND BIG TECH FIRMS Mathieu O’Neil, Xiaolan Cai, Laure Muselli, Fred Pailler and Stefano Zacchiroli 1.THE INTEGRATION OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE INTO THE IT FIRM ECOSYSTEM Time for public authorities to stop blindly supporting big tech, by Sébastien Broca 2. FIRM EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS TO TOP GITHUB REPOSITORIES The ethics of open source must be enacted across the online service economy, by Hervé Le Crosnier 3. COPRODUCTION AND VOLUNTEER LABOUR IN THE IT MEDIA Predation is not sustainable, so give big tech a chance, by Thierry Carraz 4. DISCOURSES ABOUT OPEN SOURCE IN THE IT SECTOR Building common knowledge: The science commons, by Daniele Bourcier 5. STRATEGIC RESPONSES TO PREDATION AND FREE RIDING Framasoft, a pluralist alternative to big tech, by Pierre-Yves Gosset 6. DEBATING THE RECOGNITION OF UNPAID VOLUNTEER LABOUR: UBIs, MONEY IN FOSS, LICENCES Federated responses to big tech monopolies, by Celya Gruson-Daniel, Benjamin Jean and Camille Louis <end>

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