Text

Peer Participation and Software: What Mozilla Has to Teach Government

---

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.OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.

---

Availability

No copy data

Detail Information

Series Title

-

Call Number

-

Publisher

Cambridge, Mass. : : MIT Press Direct., 2010

Collation

1 online resource (104 pages).

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9780262266550

Classification

NONE

Content Type

text

Media Type

computer

Carrier Type

online resource

Edition

-

Subject(s)

Computer software
Digital media

Specific Detail Info

-

Statement of Responsibility

David R. Booth.

Other Information

Cataloger

reva

Source

-

Validator

-

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/8758.001.0001

Journal Volume

-

Journal Issue

-

Subtitle

-

Parallel Title

-

Other version/related

File Attachment

Comments

---

You must be logged in to post a comment