Open source code has allowed for the proliferation of open source software that competes with the big guns of software development, like Microsoft. Tempers run high, with the key issues focused on differing philosophies on the best business model to use and disputes over copyright, leading to lawsuits and heated online discussions. This issue of Topic in Depth provides an overview of open source...

This research group from the University of California at Irvine conducts "empirically-based studies of the processes, practices, and communities that develop open source software." The group's homepage includes many recent publications, including one that outlines several potential advantages of implementing major academic, commercial, or governmental software systems with open source practices as...