Motivações para o compartilhamento do conhecimento em comunidades de software livre

Abstract

Knowledge sharing is a main factor for communities of practice. Free software communities are considered communities of practice, as they put together people interested in sharing knowledge about free software. A characteristic of free software communities is that they can have very diverse members, considering age, education, culture, among other aspects, which can be a challenge for leaders to keep it active and energized. Knowledge sharing processes are influenced by different motivations depending on the context. This study aims to identify the motivations for knowledge sharing behavior in free software communities that may be affected by the action of the leaders. To achieve this objective, the research was conducted in three stages. First, a qualitative stage was performed, where twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of a community. The results suggested sixteen motivations for knowledge sharing behavior: eight influence donation and focus on knowledge; four have influence collection and focus on the individual; four influence both processes and are focused on the relationships between individuals. Based on the results of the previous stage, a qualitative research was performed in which five community leaders, to identify the motivations which they can act upon. Finally, the main reasons given by the leaders were tested in a quantitative research, where a survey was administered to 260 members of different open source communities. The results show that ease of access and learning orientation influence collection; reputation, support and knowledge collection influence donation; and professional reasons influence both knowledge collection and knowledge donation in free software communities.