Making an Open Source Case for Offshoring Commentary

Abstract

The paper is an account of the possibilities that expanded international offshoring could have for the Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) movement. Based on existing survey data, this paper argues that at a numeric level, the continued spread of software development jobs into new areas of the world could create the foundation from which expanded international involvement in FLOSS could evolve. By drawing a parallel between the amount of available employment and education in an area to the overall participation of developers in FLOSS activities, I argue here that expanding the number of participants in the high-tech sector could increase the number of developers in other countries who choose to participate in open source projects. This analysis posits a kind of symbiotic relationship between commercial and private sector software development, which has not previously been taken. While these modes of software production continue to expand internationally, we gain a unique opportunity for expanding our understanding of the consequences of offshoring. Furthermore, the liberatory promise of FLOSS projects can only be realized if educated and motivated individuals are present in other countries. Without this expansion, it will remain an activity dominated by America and Western Europe