Ethnographic research

[dazang]

Hello fellow Ubuntu users! I have somewhat of an interesting project. I am a University student, and as a term project for my anthropology course I am conducting ethnographic research. This type of research is simply observation of a culture. I have chosen the open-source community as my chosen culture.

Firstly, I believe this project will allow me to better understand the ideals and values that the culture shares, as well as some of the points of contention within its ranks. The point of this project is simply observation and learning from that observation; not necessarily to come to any specific conclusion or to prove any hypothesis.

Along with observing behavior here in the forums and at local events, I am also posing the following questions here in the forum for those who would like to participate in my study. The questions are basic. If you do choose to participate, please be as honest and personal as you can be. This is as much about you as it will be about the larger community. Also, if you can think of any other questions that would be helpful for my research, please don't hesitate to share!

Thank you!

The questions:



What drew you to the open source community?
What operating system(s) do you use daily?
What architecture is your favorite?
Have you been a part of a development team for open-source software?
Is there any part of the open-source mission that has it's downsides? If so, what?
What types of projects do you see happening in open-source software in the next ten years?
What other hobbies do you have? Please list them, and share stories if you like.
What is your opinion of Microsoft? What is your opinion of licensed software in general?
What is your favorite aspect to the open-source community?

[keithpeter]

Hello dazang and all

Well, it will take some thought to compose adequate answers to your list of questions, but I will answer them and will post a link here.

When you have completed the study, I'd be very interested in any model you construct and any details as to your data reduction methodology. I would also like to know if you will be looking at interactions between members of the community at all.

[dazang]

Bump. Please help, my friends!

[alex2e1gzy]

What drew you to the open source community?A dislike of 'for profit' software. I liked the feeling that I could contribute my ideas to a common goal.


What operating system(s) do you use daily?Ubuntu
Windows 7 - Only because I have to at work


What architecture is your favorite?? - (Sorry, not sure what you mean - n00b here!)


Have you been a part of a development team for open-source software?Not Yet, but hope to be


Is there any part of the open-source mission that has it's downsides? If so, what?Perhaps - software branches, which branch would you choose?


What types of projects do you see happening in open-source software in the next ten years?I hope to see a lot more work in the immersive & virtual reality area


What other hobbies do you have? Please list them, and share stories if you like.Work... Eat... Sleep!
I like to play RPGs
I sometimes like to garden


What is your opinion of Microsoft? What is your opinion of licensed software in general?I think Microsoft are heading in the right direction, just a bit too slowly. I do not have any problem with Licensed software, as long as it is good enough.


What is your favorite aspect to the open-source community?Solving problems together!

Phew! Hope this helps your study.

[dazang]

alex2e1gzy,

Architecture generally refers to the type of processor you use, but more specific to the all-around base system architecture, such as SPARC, PPC, etc. I know most people nowadays probably use x86-64, either AMD or Intel. I personally use AMD64 for server, desktop, and laptop.

Curtis

[rg4w]

What drew you to the open source community?
It was an accident. I enjoy Ubuntu, and came to value FOSS along the way.

What operating system(s) do you use daily?
Linux, Windows, Mac, Android, iOS

What architecture is your favorite?
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Have you been a part of a development team for open-source software?
Yes

Is there any part of the open-source mission that has it's downsides? If so, what?
Usability. It's been said that the difference between a tool and a product is that with a tool it need only be possible to use it correctly, but with a product it should be impossible to use it incorrectly. The economics of FOSS sometimes means that some apps can be more like tools than products.

What types of projects do you see happening in open-source software in the next ten years?
More mainstream support and adoption. I see more OEMs coming on board with Ubuntu and other FOSS projects, and along the way many more users.

What other hobbies do you have? Please list them, and share stories if you like.
Hiking, bicycling, archaeology

What is your opinion of Microsoft? What is your opinion of licensed software in general?
I admire some of what they've accomplished, but I think Steve Jobs said it best: "The problem with Microsoft is that they just don't have any taste."

What is your favorite aspect to the open-source community?
There's something rather magic that happens when the primary reason people get together is to freely share stuff.

[alexfish]

{<(((*> stack <*)))>{
{<(((*> microsoft <*)))>{
{<(((*> pop <*)))>{
{<(((*> Linux <*)))>{

free the fish .......................<*)))>{

[Ms. Daisy]

The point of this project is simply observation and learning from that observation
Anthropologically speaking, when you interact with the community you affect it. Simple observation would be reading existing threads without posting ;)

Here are my answers

1. What drew you to the open source community? I wanted to learn about computers. I studied Linux & Windows.

2. What operating system(s) do you use daily? Windows & Ubuntu

3. What architecture is your favorite? Depends on the machine & its task.

4. Have you been a part of a development team for open-source software? Nope, don't have the skilz.

5. Is there any part of the open-source mission that has it's downsides? If so, what? Oh probably, everything does. But I have no opinion on the subject.

6. What types of projects do you see happening in open-source software in the next ten years? http://xkcd.com/644/

7. What other hobbies do you have? Please list them, and share stories if you like. Does this count? http://xkcd.com/236/

8. What is your opinion of Microsoft? It's a wildly successful company. What is your opinion of licensed software in general? It's a way to make money writing software.

9. What is your favorite aspect to the open-source community? People are invested. If there's a problem people can act to fix it (if they've got the knowledge to do so) or they can file a bug report & let the experts fix it. That's opposed to Microsoft- if MS software/ OS has a problem you're at their mercy to fix it. I like this forum in particular because people genuinely want to help others voluntarily. It's friendly to noobs which isn't the case for all Linux forums.

[dazang]

Anthropologically speaking, when you interact with the community you affect it. Simple observation would be reading existing threads without posting

Yes, good point. However, I am conducting a varied style of research, not just simple observation. I am to conduct some interviews, and the best way for this community is online via these types of threads.

Thanks for the input!

[decktrio]

Along with observing behavior here in the forums and at local events, I am also posing the following questions here in the forum for those who would like to participate in my study. The questions are basic. If you do choose to participate, please be as honest and personal as you can be. This is as much about you as it will be about the larger community. Also, if you can think of any other questions that would be helpful for my research, please don't hesitate to share!

The questions:


What drew you to the open source community?
What operating system(s) do you use daily?
What architecture is your favorite?
Have you been a part of a development team for open-source software?
Is there any part of the open-source mission that has it's downsides? If so, what?
What types of projects do you see happening in open-source software in the next ten years?
What other hobbies do you have? Please list them, and share stories if you like.
What is your opinion of Microsoft? What is your opinion of licensed software in general?
What is your favorite aspect to the open-source community?


1. The cost (as in $$$) of open source software; it's generally less expensive (using accounting costs) than proprietary software.
2. Lubuntu
3. i386
4. no
5. development is generally less efficient. it takes many more volunteers to get something done, than it would take paid employees, and most open-source developers are volunteers.
6. i have no idea...
7. cycling (not for competition/speed/endurance, not for exercise, but just to relax), reading, oh. and i'm a news/politics junkie
8. They do the best they can considering what they are... a behemoth corporation, who has been able to buy out most competition. Until MS's market share decreases some more, they're not going to feel the pressure to innovate and become better. At the end of the day, I have more respect for MS's business model than for Apple's. MS doesn't force customers to buy their software bundled with certain hardware.

I don't have a problem with licensed software, people want credit for their work... so they get it licensed. People need to get paid for their time (so they can live), so they use strict licenses. There's nothing wrong with that.
9. My favorite aspect of the open-source community is how tightly-knit subcommunities are.

[alex2e1gzy]

alex2e1gzy,

Architecture generally refers to the type of processor you use, but more specific to the all-around base system architecture, such as SPARC, PPC, etc. I know most people nowadays probably use x86-64, either AMD or Intel. I personally use AMD64 for server, desktop, and laptop.

Curtis

Ahh...

In that case, I am running on AMD64! Thanks for the info.