Mudslinging and Manners: Unpacking Conflict in Free and Open Source Software

As the nature of virtual work changes, so must our understanding of important processes such as conflict. The present study examines conflict in ongoing virtual teams by situating itself in the context of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) development. A series of semi-structured interviews with diverse representatives of the FOSS community highlight differences in the way conflict occurs. Specifically, a transformation of conflict types is observed together with a form of conflict previously unidentified in work on virtual teams. Findings suggest that the changing structure of ongoing virtual teams has important consequences for team processes like conflict.