A student hopes to learn more about the 389 Directory Server Community and the Free/Open Source Software

[Tiebing Shi]

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Dear friends,



I have been reading your postings to the mailing
lists of the 389 Directory Server Community. I have really
enjoyed reading about your collaborative creative activities and your
perspectives on the free/open source
software. 



My name is Tiebing Shi and I am a Ph.D. student at Queen's University in
Canada. I am very interested in learning more about the Free/Open Source
Software Community. The study that I am doing for my Ph.D. thesis is called
"User Creativity: An Investigation of the Free/Open Source Software
Community." The purpose of my thesis is to study how developers and users
collectively create free/open source software.

I sincerely invite you to participate in my study. I would
like to interview you in your role as a developer and/or user in your
legendary 389 Directory Server Community. Your experiences of developing and/or using
389 Directory Server software and your perspectives on the free/open source software will
greatly help me to understand the creative
activities of the 389 Directory Server Community and the whole Free/Open Source
Software Community. If your time permits, I would like
to interview you via phone. The phone interview will last about 1 hour. If you
like, we can conduct our interview via email.



Please be kindly informed that there is no obligation to participate in this
study. But your participation will be highly appreciated. Your confidentiality
will be protected. For example, your real name will NOT be used in my thesis
and future publications. Further information about this study and our interview
will be provided to you upon request.



Please respond to this email to let me know your interest in participating in a
phone or an email interview with me. If you select the phone interview format,
please select a time for an interview that is most convenient for you. Please
also let me know your phone number and time zone (my time zone is Eastern
Daylight Time) so that I can call you at your local time you select.



Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will
respond to you as soon as possible.



Thank you for your support and I look forward to talking with you.



Sincerely,





Tiebing Shi

Queen's School of Business, Queen&#8217;s
University

Kingston, ON, Canada K7L 3N6 

Tel: [phone] (Office)

Email: tshi(a)business.queensu.ca