Capability Coordination in Modular Organization: Voluntary FS/OSS Production and the Case of Debian GNU/Linux

Giampaolo Garzarelli () and Roberto Galoppini
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Roberto Galoppini: ACME Solutions, s.r.l.

Industrial Organization from EconWPA

Abstract: The paper analyzes voluntary Free Software/Open Source Software (FS/OSS) organization of work. The empirical setting considered is the Debian GNU/Linux operating system. The paper finds that the production process is hierarchical notwithstanding the modular (nearly decomposable) architecture of software and of voluntary FS/OSS organization. But voluntary FS/OSS project organization is not hierarchical for the same reasons suggested by the most familiar theories of economic organization: hierarchy is justified for coordination of continuous change, rather than for the direction of static production. Hierarchy is ultimately the overhead attached to the benefits engendered by modular organization.

Keywords: Modularity; hierarchy; capabilities; coordination costs; software. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D23 L22 L23 L86 M11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-12-21
Note: Type of Document - pdf; prepared on WinXP; pages: 46
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpio:0312005

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