Dear Directory developers,

We are Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) research group in =20
Syracuse University, USA. (Please see our website: =20
http://floss.syr.edu ). I know most of you don?t know us, but we are =20
actually ?part of Directory community? now (Quoted from Alex :- )) =20
Last year, we had a great time talking with some of Directory =20
developers-- including Alex, Emmanuel, Ersin, PAM--at ApacheCon Austin =20
2006. We're contacting you know because we would like to do an =20
in-depth interview with the Directory developers.

The main purpose of this interview is to examine the role of shared =20
mental models (shared understanding) in work practices, i.e., the way =20
people coordinate, communicate, learn and make decisions, and the way =20
such models emerge within Directory team. In particular, the interview =20
will be focused on five elements, namely the history of the project, =20
the project aspects considered as peculiar, the adopted work practices =20
and the way each team member perceives his/her role and the role =20
played by other members.

We have already mentioned our research to Alex. He is very supportive =20
of it and asked us to post this request in the public developer list =20
to attract extensive participation. The whole interview will take =20
about 20-30 minutes and can be conducted by phone, Skype or =20
face-to-face (for the developers attending ApacheCon Europe in =20
Amsterdam). The results will be presented we hope at a future =20
ApacheCon and in other academic conferences. We will be very =20
appreciative of your kindness if you are willing to provide some time =20
to attend our interview : -) . We?d like to share any interesting =20
findings with your team after conducting the analysis.

If you are interested in the research and willing to be interviewed, =20
please contact us: Qing Li (qli03-SjkUwj5B77I@public.gmane.org) and Yeliz Es
eryel =20
(yeliz2002-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org). We are very happy to pr
ovide more information =20
for you.

Cheers ! To great Directory!
FLOSS Research Group (http://floss.syr.edu )
April 23, 2007
Syracuse University, USA

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