Free software engineering: A field to explore

The challenge of free software is not that of a new competitor who, under the same rules, produces software faster, cheaper and of a better quality. Free software differs from "traditional" software in more fundamental aspects, starting with philosophical reasons and motivations, continuing with new economic and market rules and ending up with a different way of producing software. Software Engineering cannot ignore this phenomenon, and the last five years or so has seen ever more research into all these issues. This article takes a look at the most significant studies in this field and the results they are producing, with a view to providing the reader with a vision of the state of the art and the future prospects of what we have come to call free Software Engineering.