Collective Development in Open-Source Communities: An Activity Theoretical Perspective on Successful Online Collaboration
研究了在线项目如何通过活动理论解决分散工作问题，利用矛盾推动协作，基于KDE项目观察发现成功协作依赖于将个体行动与集体活动紧密结合的“搭便车”系统。
Online collaboration is often organized without strong predetermined rules or central authority, which is why coordination and ways of organizing cooperation become crucial elements of collaboration. This article investigates how online projects can overcome problems of dispersed work, solve inherent contradictions and utilize tensions in the activity system to develop collaborative artefacts and practices. Empirical evidence is based on a detailed observation of a successful open-source project — the K Desktop Environment (KDE). Our findings show that successful collaboration is based on coat-tailing systems. Coat-tailing means to inextricably bind together individual action and collective activity through careful design of complexes of technological, mental and cultural artefacts.