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Commit 09a272a13cc3626f0cd0cd0f0121a98dcfed1500

Authored by Antonio Terceiro
1 parent 7403d5d0
Exists in master and in 3 other branches oss_2018, oss_2018_siqueira, rework_case_study

Review section about the SPB

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opensym2017/content/02-spb.tex
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1   -\section{Brazilian Public Software versus Free/Open Source Software}
  1 +\section{Free/Open Source Software and Brazilian Public Software}
2 2 \label{sec:spb}
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4   -FOSS is considered a recent phenomenon that has gained notoriety in recent years and has been arousing a interest of observation by the academy. However, since the beginning of computing the majority of developers worked in the way that we now identify as free software, that is, sharing code openly. This feature makes the code available for inspection, modification, and use by any person or organization \cite{kon2012}, \cite{hippel2003}.
  4 +FOSS is a phenomenon that has gained notoriety in recent years and has been attarcting the interest of academia. However, since the beginning of computing the majority of developers worked in the way that we now identify as free software, that is, sharing code openly. This feature makes the code available for inspection, modification, and use by any person or organization \cite{kon2012}, \cite{hippel2003}.
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6 6 The elements that distinguish FOSS from other types of software are the reasoning about the development process, the economic context, the relationship between developers and users, as well as the ethical and legal characteristics that relate to the software. In the context of free software, user freedom is promoted and its development is based on open collaboration and development practices \cite{meirelles2013}.
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8   -From the economic point of view, unlike what happens with proprietary, restricted software, FOSS promotes the establishment of several suppliers that compete with each other based on the same software. This stronger competition among suppliers brings benefits to users because it gives better assurances regarding the evolution of the system and induces a reduction in prices. These freedoms and assurances on software are guaranteed in Brazil by Law 9610/98, copyright law. Most of the time, this protection from the law complies the terms conferred by a contract related to certain software. This contract is called `` license ''. The license of a software determines a list of rights and duties that are projected on a user of the software. In particular, what differentiates FOSS from proprietary software is just the way of licensing\cite{sabino2009}. The FOSS licenses are the ones that guarantee the right to execute, study, adapt, and improve the software, such as the \textit{GPL (GNU General Public License)} licenses accepted for projects hosted in the SPB.
  8 +From the economic point of view, unlike what happens with proprietary software, FOSS promotes the establishment of several suppliers that compete with each other based on the same software. This stronger competition among suppliers brings benefits to users because it gives better assurances regarding the evolution of the system and induces a reduction in prices. These freedoms and assurances on software are guaranteed in Brazil by Law 9610/98, copyright law. Most of the time, this protection from the law complies with the terms conferred by a contract related to certain software. This contract is called ``license''. The license of a software determines a list of rights that are given to, and duties that are imposed on a user of the software. In particular, what differentiates FOSS from proprietary software is just the way they are licensed\cite{sabino2009}. The FOSS licenses guarantee the right to execute, study, adapt, and improve the software. Example of common FOSS licenses are the \textit{GPL (GNU General Public License)}, the Apache license, the MIT license, and the BSD license.
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10 10 The SPB has been released in 2007. In a practical view, is a web system that has consolidated itself as a software project sharing environment. It provides a space (community) for each software. Therefore, the current platform for SPB was designed to include tools that promote collaboration and interaction in communities (by managers, users and
11 11 developers) of the projects, according to the practices used in FOSS communities. This includes e-mail lists, discussion forums, issue trackers, version control systems, and social networking environments.
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13 13 Initially, the purpose of the portal was only to share the software developed in the brazilian government, in order to reduce the costs of hiring software. However it was observed that when the software were released, communities were formed around those software with several people collaborating and sharing the results obtained through the use of those solutions. In this way, some software development cooperatives and private companies have shown an interest in making their software available on the SPB platform.
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15   -The concept of brazilian public software differs from FOSS in some aspects highlighting the attribution of public good to software and the obligation of the software to be in the SPB. Although there are some differences between what is FOSS and brazilian public software, there are common principles, such as the tendency for decentralization in decision-making, the intense sharing of information and feedback processes resulting from the use of artifacts produced. On the one hand, FOSS presents itself as an already consolidated and viable model in an increasing number of applications and environments. On the other hand, legal and economic uncertainties remain. Some of these challenges are associated to the barriers created by the proprietary software model and culture \cite{kon2012}. Besides these, there are also difficulties for the entry and permanence of new contributors in the projects. In SPB context probably due to the organizational structure and bureaucratic processes of the Brazilian Federal Government.
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  15 +The concept of Brazilian Public Software goes beyond FOSS. In addition to being licensed under a FOSS license, a Brazilian Public Software needs to have explicit guarantees that it is a public good, and that project must be available in the SPB. Being a true public good assumes requirements that can't be met solely by means of FOSS licensing. For example, there must be a relaxed trademark usage policy by the original vendor that don't stop eventual competitors from adversiting services for that same software. Inclusion in the SPB also has extra requirements, such as having a public version control system, installation manual, hardware requirements specification, etc.
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