MSc Dissertation

[5nak3]

Hi all,

I am doing a Masters in Management, with a specialisim in Marketing. Part of my grade, 30% actually, depends on a writing a dissertation. In regards to this I have decided that I would like to do a topic about something I actually like, as opposed to writing a dissertation on a topic of little to no interest to me.

To this end, I have decided to focus my dissertation around the idea of open source software.

I am still in the planning stages of my project, so I am still brainstorming ideas, what I have so far is:

Title: “In a world without walls and fences, who needs Windows and Gates” - One of the many Linux quotes I've seen and for lack of a better title at this moment in time, this will have to suffice.

Basis: Looking at the impact of Open source software on the future computing --> With the recent growth in the notion of Web 2.0 and more emphasis on user generated content, users helping each other solve their problems and create software solutions --> As user based solutions begin to develop is Microsoft in danger of loosing their cash cow (windows)? --> The recent growth of Mac popularity, plus the problems with Vista have seriously affected Microsoft --> And now with the release of many new netbooks running the linux operating system Microsoft maybe seriously affected

Analysis: I was thinking of looking at an analysis of share prices or financial data from Microsoft maybe if I look at Apple I'll also look at their financial data and seeing if any trend can be established.

And this is where you guys will all come in :)

I was thinking of designing a questionnaire which I was hoping (you) users of open source software would be so kind as to answer a few questions if I upload one.

Really, my aim of this first post is to get an insight into how many people would be willing to answer a few questions on open source/closed source software.

Additionally, as I am very new to the Linux world, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas/topics or possibly any developments within the open source world which might be interesting to look into that maybe I have not thought about or overlooked

Many thanks

[5nak3]

No interest whatsoever?

[Keyper7]

This is not exactly whay you're asking for, but let me give you my two cents: this topic is too rich and too interesting to be wasted on a "Microsoft is losing" direction. In my opinion, you should focus on the economic viability of open source and free software instead of who is winning and who is losing.

I'd recommend reading the works of Eric Raymond. His book, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, is a major reference about the impact of user collaboration on software development. About user generated content, you could check the works of Yochai Benkler.

[5nak3]

ah ha! Just what I wanted actually!

As I stated this is more of a planning stage at the moment, and my initial post was used as a means of showing my current brainstorm.

I have never written a dissertation before, so for me this is a learning experience in itself. But my main concern is actually focusing on something that will allow me my three months of development and will not dry up after a month.

The problem is once I commit to a topic, I have to follow through with it. I am slightly concerned actually that the amount of literature on user generated content is quick limited, and this was the main reason I did not want to exclude Microsoft or rather a closed source analysis.

I'll look into the two authors you mentioned, and will go back to the drawing board maybe come back with more ideas in a couple of days.

In the mean time, please keep any and all suggestions coming. At the moment, I am trying to understand the breadth and depth of the topic, so even if what you can contribute may seem as being at a tangent, please don't be afraid to post your ideas.

And once again, thanks for the start Keyper!

[eljalill]

As someone who has researched the topic (I have handed in a research proposal about it at my uni, but failed to get funding for it), I can tell you, that there is MUCH literature out there on the viability of open source in IT. Just a google scholar search will supply you with maannny articles, and there has just been a new study by Michele Boldrin and Davide Levine from Washington University (don't have the link right now, sure quick internet search will help). I am not sure about the requirements for your MSc thesis, but if it has to contribute anything new to science, you might be in for a hard time when concentrating on the economics. (If you fail to find anything, I'd be happy to share my collection of PDFs with you)

I personally find that the most intersting unanswered questions would be 1. whether open source /community production is viable in other fields of production than in IT (could you make and open source car, and open source plane, and open source sewing machine, etc)? and 2. trying to make prediction in terms of market shares of windows and OS alternatives (if OS is so much superior as most people here (including me) are convinced, why aren't we moving faster)?

Just some thoughts...

[5nak3]

I personally find that the most intersting unanswered questions would be 1. whether open source /community production is viable in other fields of production than in IT (could you make and open source car, and open source plane, and open source sewing machine, etc)? and 2. trying to make prediction in terms of market shares of windows and OS alternatives (if OS is so much superior as most people here (including me) are convinced, why aren't we moving faster)?

Thank you very much eljalill for your response, about your first point, that does sound interesting, I've never thought of that before. In fact I would have loved to look into this but I think time constraints as well as word constraints might be a bit tight for that.

But I think you hit the nail on the head with the last point you made. You seem to have understood and summarized my thoughts very nicely.

I have read time and time again about how Open source software is causing problems for Microsoft especially on the licensing, distribution and patent fronts. But none of the stuff I've read (mostly from newspapers I must admit) have dealt with what this means for the home user.
I feel that in this OS battle the home user seems to be overlooked, with the primary focus on small to medium enterprises.

My initial idea was to follow this route of Windows market share, in light of Vista, the rise of the open source movement and to a lesser extent the rise of Mac OS X (maybe not focus too heavily here since Apple seem to making their money from all their other ventures).

I never thought about your point about "(if OS is so much superior as most people here (including me) are convinced, why aren't we moving faster)?", but I think this would help me a lot in terms of sketching out my plan further.

I think if indeed I follow the route of your proposed 2 option, then the title for my topic can also remain as is for the time being as it seems to quite nicely sum up the second option.

This has given me a new perspective on the topic. Thank you very much eljalill. I will also try and look at the author you mentioned tonight, and maybe if I get time run a quick Google scholar search.

In fact what worries me is if Google scholar throws up articles I like, my university is against using Google scholar and do not believe it is an academical database. As a result if the article I find is not available on the university's database I cannot use it.

I will be checking back here regularly and when I start collating the suggestions and filtering out what I can and cannot use, I will try to update you guys with my progress.

[5nak3]

Hi again,

After reviewing suggestions and looking into the topic a bit more I've come up with the following structure:

Title: In a world without walls and fences, who needs Windows and Gates - Still don't have one, so using this for the time being.

Possible discussion topics (I was thinking in terms of chapters, as I am pretty much approaching this in a traditional dissertation style):

Chap 1: "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" - This chapter will hopefully look into the computer industry as a whole, developments since the dot com crash, idea developments / prospects since Web 2.0 and user generated content came to the industry vocabulary.

Chap 2: "March of the Penguin" - I am hoping here, to once having established how the industry is shaped look at alternatives in terms of software with my main focus on operating systems, so in this case I am hoping to look at Linux and how recent growth in its popularity is making an impact within the industry if at all.

Chap 3: "Linux, Dos, NT - The good, the bad and the ugly" - This chapter I am hoping to maybe interview users of Linux, or maybe get questionnaires filled in which will give a user perspective. Users of Linux systems generally tend to praise the superiority of their operating system, and how it performs better than Windows. I am hoping that that this chapter will give an insight into both domestic and commercial uses of Linux. - But this does hinge on the fact I get some responses, if I do not get the responses or support then obviously I will rethink this chapter.

Chap 4: "The cost of free software" - This chapter is very much dependent on the third, this chapter will analyze the fact that if in fact Linux is such a superior operating system (thanks to eljalill for this suggestion), why hasn't been able to capture a bigger market share and more importantly will a swap to Linux be feasible let alone worthwhile in an attempt to save on the bottom line.

Conclusion - which I cannot really comment on at the moment.


Also this morning while in the shower I was thinking and thought about general boom bust cycles. On the whole the economy runs on a upward / downward spiral, and we are experiences a downturn at the moment, then I got thinking of the computer industry.

The last real industry bust (as far as I am aware) was in 2001 with the dot com crash, and I was actually curious (although haven't had a read into this) about what is the likelihood of another industry bust in the coming months, especially with the economic downturn. Would people really rush out to buy Windows 7? Would the newer technologies really be a priority for people now?

If I find that there is literature pointing towards a bust, I might want to look at if the industry does suffer a crash, could Linux being a free alternative help the industry and in fact if the industry does go into a downturn will it be beneficial for Linux or will it ruin the progress that the OS has made?

Any and all comments welcome :)

[gloscherrybomb]

A short and therefore pretty useless response, but if I were you, and considering the subject of your masters, and would lean the dis to focus on the marketing issues associated with open source software. The difficulty of bringing it to the masses when they are so used to Microsoft, the finacial difficulties involved, the fact it is ever changing etc. Can traditional and common marketing methods be applied to open source software?

[5nak3]

@ gloscherrybomb

I think you just saved me a lot of head scratching. I just got home from university, it is 11pm and I see an email from my supervisor asking

"Research contibution- what are likely implications for theory you plan to use and for managers working in the industry."

I was so bummed, because I've been spending quite a bit of time thinking and reorganizing my thoughts only to be given something else to consider. But your response has actually given me a lifeline as it were.

There are two concerns with taking the dissertation down a marketing route:

1) I may have to look for another supervisor with a marketing background, as my current supervisor is an information management specialist.

2) I will have to look at my plan again and see where I could fit the marking issues in. I was not too keen on actually following a marketing route for the simple reason that my supervisor is not a marketing specialist.

However, he asked for managerial implications, and I guess how to market an open source program such as Linux would be an implication.

Well then back to the drawing board I go and hopefully I can come up with something.

Thank you very much for the suggestion. At least you've given me one option to consider.

[5nak3]

Hi all,

Another update, I finalised my draft dissertation proposal this morning and sent everything off to be looked at and commented upon before I have to submit my final proposal.

The good news is I was looking forward to it, and the more time i spent looking over reading lists, potential articles etc... the more i thought this could work.

The bad news, I checked my inbox just now and I found this comment from a lecturer (although not my supervisor)

"I am not convinced that what you are proposing can be effectively carried out as Msc dissertation.

I am not clear as to what your key research questions are and what theoretical paradigms you want to use to explore viability of Linux."

So now i wait upon my supervisor to tell me his thoughts. It is odd, because both people are from the same department, work side by side, one seems to like the idea (my supervisor), one doesn't seem to like it (the guy that sent the above response).

My concern is that the guy that doesn't seem to like it may be doing me a favour by kicking me in the pants this early on rather than allowing me to proceed and find problems later on.

Well we'll see what happens...

[alex2399]

"I am not convinced that what you are proposing can be effectively carried out as Msc dissertation.

I am not clear as to what your key research questions are and what theoretical paradigms you want to use to explore viability of Linux."




Since it is a MSc, you should probably describe theories that there are now, why they hold or not, pick your own or come up with your own and test them. Most research articles in my field have a form of
Intro--->Question Description--->Methods--->Results--->Discussion

Reading through what you propose, it sounds more like "Linux is better, Microsoft is bad and I've got alot of people giving me anecdotal evidence so I must be right, even the (biased)sales figures tell me". And viability of Linux, how would you test that? Is there an agreed upon concensus in your field of study on what a viability of an OS is? Probaly yes, but that probably depends on situations, and those are numerous and diverse
So it might be interesting, but you cannot predict anything with it. Think smaller. If you would make a questionnaire about why people/managers make a switch, expect a lot of answers. I don't know how strict your university is, but making a questionnaire that is reliable and valid is a world of hurt. A smaller research question of the top of my head would be something like "do mangers switch more from product A to B when the stock markets go below threshold XXX"