Standardization and Other Coordination Mechanisms in Open Source Software

Abstract

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 chapter we explore which other coordinative mechanisms are at work next to 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.