Standardization and Other Coordination Mechanisms in Open Source Software
Tineke Mirjam Egyedi, Ruben van Wendel de Joode · International Journal of IT Standards and Standardization Research · 2004
Open Source Software (OSS) offers programmers the opportunity to elaborate and adapt source code. It is an opportunity to diverge. We would therefore expect incompatible strains of software to develop, and consequently a demand for standardization to arise. However, this is only partly the case. In this paper we explore which other coordinative mechanisms are at work apart from committee standardization. We identify four other categories of coordinative mechanisms, and illustrate their relevance in OSS development. They complement committee standardization, can be used in standardization, and are sometimes an alternative to standardization.