Continuous Design of Free/Open Source Software

Lee Gasser, University of California Irvine, and Walt Scacchi, University of California Irvine

8/01/2008
(Original Publish Date: 10/15/2003)

The PIs received an NSF research grant (IIS-#0350754) for a collaborative project and workshop focused on identifying research directions for Continuous (Re)Design of Free/Open Source Software. This report presents the preliminary results from a workshop held in two locations (UCI, 23 Sept 03 and UIUC, 8-9 Oct 03). The aim of this distributed workshop was to explore and organize the sense of the community in this research area, in relation to establishing a new "Science of Design." A total of 46 academic scientists and industrial researchers from across the U.S. came together in the workshop (18 at UCI, 28 at UIUC) to discuss, debate, and identify the critical issues and research directions. This preliminary report summarizes the findings of the workshop in five areas: motivations; areas/topics needing research; needed research collaborations and shared research infrastructure/testbeds; required investment; and other recommendations for action. As critical research in this area proceeds, it will have significant scientific, technological, educational, social, and economic benefits to the U.S.