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    Peer Participation and Software

    What Mozilla Has to Teach Government

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    Author(s)
    Booth, David R.
    Language
    English
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    Abstract
    An examination of Mozilla's unique approach to software development considers how this model of participation might be applied to political and civic engagement.Firefox, a free Web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation, is used by an estimated 270 million people worldwide. To maintain and improve the Firefox browser, Mozilla depends not only on its team of professional programmers and managers but also on a network of volunteer technologists and enthusiasts—free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) developers—who contribute their expertise. This kind of peer production is unique, not only for its vast scale but also for its combination of structured, hierarchical management with open, collaborative volunteer participation. In this MacArthur Foundation Report, David Booth examines the Mozilla Foundation's success at organizing large-scale participation in the development of its software and considers whether Mozilla's approach can be transferred to government and civil society. Booth finds parallels between Mozilla's collaboration with Firefox users and the Obama administration's philosophy of participatory governance (which itself amplifies the much older Jeffersonian ideal of democratic participation). Mozilla's success at engendering part-time, volunteer participation that produces real marketplace innovation suggests strategies for organizing civic participation in communities and government. Mozilla's model could not only show us how to encourage the technical community to participate in civic life but also teach us something about how to create successful political democracy.
    URI
    http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/26071
    Keywords
    software development
    ISBN
    9780262514613
    OCN
    1100537800
    Publisher
    The MIT Press
    Publisher website
    https://mitpress.mit.edu/
    Publication date and place
    Cambridge, 2010
    Classification
    Internet guides and online services
    Internet searching
    Pages
    112
    Public remark
    21-7-2020 - No DOI registered in CrossRef for ISBN 9780262266567
    Rights
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
    • Imported or submitted locally

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    License

    • If not noted otherwise all contents are available under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

    Credits

    • logo EU
    • This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 683680, 810640, 871069 and 964352.

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