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The Discursive Coding of Software: a Study of the Relationship Between Stability and Change Jennifer Helene Maher Iowa State University

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The Discursive Coding of Software: a Study of the Relationship Between Stability and Change Jennifer Helene Maher Iowa State University View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Digital Repository @ Iowa State University Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2006 The discursive coding of software: a study of the relationship between stability and change Jennifer Helene Maher Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Discourse and Text Linguistics Commons, Other Communication Commons, Programming Languages and Compilers Commons, and the Rhetoric and Composition Commons Recommended Citation Maher, Jennifer Helene, "The discursive coding of software: a study of the relationship between stability and change" (2006). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 13941. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/13941 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The discursive coding of software: A study of the relationship between stability and change by Jennifer Helene Maher A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Rhetoric and Professional Communication Program of Study Committee: David Russell, Major Professor Carl Herndl Dorothy Winsor Diane Price Herndl David Schweingruber Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2006 Copyright © Jennifer Helene Maher, 2006. All rights reserved UMI Number: 3243534 UMI Microform 3243534 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract................................................................................................................................... iv Chapter One: The Discursive Coding of Software .............................................................. 1 A Short History of Software ................................................................................................. 5 The Symbolic power of the Software Programming culture .............................................. 11 Needs My Research Addresses........................................................................................... 15 Research Questions............................................................................................................. 18 The Relationship between Discourse and Culture.............................................................. 19 Discourse......................................................................................................................... 19 Culture............................................................................................................................. 24 Overview of Chapters ......................................................................................................... 28 Chapter Two: Theory, Framework, and Methods ............................................................ 31 Theories of Practice ............................................................................................................ 32 Structuration Theory ....................................................................................................... 33 Articulation Theory......................................................................................................... 35 Constructivist Structuralism............................................................................................ 37 Critiques of Theories of Practice ........................................................................................ 39 The Spatio-Temporal Framework....................................................................................... 44 Time as Temporal Orientations to the Past, Future, and Present.................................... 46 Space as Social Positionings........................................................................................... 52 Methods and Choice of Texts ............................................................................................. 57 Iteration and Synthesis of Software Literature: Chapter Three ...................................... 57 Projectivity and Ideological Analysis: Chapters Four and Five ..................................... 59 Practical Evaluation and Genre Analysis: Chapter Six................................................... 66 Chapter Three: The Reactivation of Iterative Social Practices........................................ 69 The Practice of Programming as Knowledge Work ........................................................... 70 Instrumentalist Talk about Coding Issues........................................................................... 77 Quality............................................................................................................................. 78 Security ........................................................................................................................... 79 Flexibility........................................................................................................................ 79 Innovation ....................................................................................................................... 80 Transparency................................................................................................................... 81 The Discursive Practice of Evangelism .............................................................................. 81 Regulatory Practices ........................................................................................................... 82 Trade Secrets................................................................................................................... 83 Patents............................................................................................................................. 84 Copyright ........................................................................................................................ 85 iii The Creation of Functional Differences in Software.......................................................... 88 Established Software Technology................................................................................... 89 Disruptive Software Technology .................................................................................... 92 Chapter Four: An Ideological Analysis Of the Encoding of Software............................. 95 Stories of Software.............................................................................................................. 96 The Entrepreneurial Narrative of Gates and the Professionalization of PC Hobbyists .. 98 The Idealistic Narrative of Stallman and the Free Software Movement ...................... 111 The Pragmatic Narrative............................................................................................... 123 The Evolution of the Competing Ideological Trajectories ............................................... 134 Software as a Commodity: Gates’ Evangelism ............................................................ 135 Software as Morality: Stallman’s Evangelism.............................................................. 139 Software as a Tool: Torvalds’ Evangelism................................................................... 143 Chapter Five: Imagining Software Through Identity in Competing Communities of the Software Programming Culture........................................................................................ 148 Identity in the Network Society ........................................................................................ 150 Identity in the Software Programming culture.................................................................. 153 The Legitimizing Identity and the Proprietary Software Industry................................ 155 The Resistance Identity and the Free Software and Open Source Communities ......... 165 The Free Software Community as a Resistant/would-be-Project Identity.................... 168 Chapter Six: Reconfiguring Copyright and Software Licensing Agreements as Strategic Deliberative Action ............................................................................................................. 185 The Generic Application of Software Licensing Agreements.......................................... 187 Copying and Distribution.............................................................................................. 192 Modification.................................................................................................................. 206 Warranty ....................................................................................................................... 209 Enforcing Software Licensing Compliance...................................................................... 214 Enforcing the EULA..................................................................................................... 216 Compliance and the GNU GPL ...................................................................................
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