A Social Movement Approach to the Development and Diffusion of Open Source Technologies

Recent years, scholars have focused on the high performance and success of OS technologies in software industry. In theses researches, they have insisted on social and economic approaches to analyze the development and diffusion of OS technologies. These social and economic approaches to the OS phenomenon has given the great implications by identifying the collaboration practices in OS filed and economic value of openness in the technology innovation. But prior researches also have a limitation to clarify the conflicts in the goal and interest among the multiple OS related groups. This study has an aim to suggest a new political approach to analyze OS phenomena. Using the framework of social movement theory, this study technologies, not taking it as a collaborative behavior among the whole related actors, but seeing it as a confronting behavior among the different interest groups.