Transformation of free and open source software development projects: Governance between the cathedral and bazaar

• Autor(a) principal: Neves Ferraz, Isabela
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Denner dos Santos, Carlos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng
• Título da fonte: Revista de Administração de Empresas
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.fgv.br/rae/article/view/85095
• topic: Community, free software projects, governance, structure, control.; Comunidad, proyectos de software libre, gobernanza, estructura, control.; Comunidade, projetos de software livre, governança, estrutura, controle.

It is common for community-based free software projects to be associated with an organizational scenario that resembles “a bazaar more than a cathedral,” and to differ from the traditional, or ‘bureaucratic’ way of organizing work. This paper analyzes the governance of these organizations from the perspective of their structure and control, considering the development trajectory of three communitybased free software projects in Brazil. Results show that the constant need to produce modern technologies gives rise to external pressures that promote change - albeit temporary - in the governance of these projects, making them resemble a cathedral more thana bazaar. Governance does not follow a cycle of sequential improvement; it changes depending on the external organizational actors present, such as sponsors. This suggests the need for strategic and flexible governance to deal with the acquisition and allocation of organizational resources. Governance of the projects described here varies along a spectrum of (in)formality that allows both production models - cathedral or bazaar - to exist in the same organization at different periods.