Handling variety: the tension between adaptability and interoperability of open source software

Open source software (OSS) offers unprecedented opportunities to create variety. This could lead to incompatibility and fragmentation. To prevent this some form of coordination is needed. This paper explores which mechanisms of coordination are responsible for limiting divergence in OSS. Two cases are examined: Java and Linux. A systematic difference seems to exist between the mechanisms identified in the two communities. With respect to Java, divergence is where possible avoided ex ante, whereas for Linux divergence is foremost reduced ex post. The conclusion discusses this difference and the implications of both types of coordination in respect to interoperability.