Permission for Research

[Yutaka Yamauchi <yamauchi at kuis dot kyoto-u dot ac dot jp>]

Dear GCC Project Members,

# Sorry for consuming bandwidth for the secondary matter.

I am a student studying the innovations of open-source software
development. I'm now tackling the research question, "Why and how can
open-source development achieve innovations while members are
geographically dispersed?"

This brief message is to ask you for the permission to analyze the
email messages posted to the project's mailing list. I plan to analyze
the messages to obtain data, such as the average number of messages,
the transition of the numbers, etc. When searching for open-source
projects, I found GCC the best because of its sophisticated products
and open-style development.

Although I consulted Mr. Jeffrey A Law, he answered that he's not sure
about the matter and I should consult my lawyer. Since I need the
informal OK'ing by each rather than the legal permission, I would like
to ask you directly whether you mind or not.

I promise that I'll use the data only for academic research and
publish the data only in research journals and conferences. I don't
have any intention to make a profit from the research. In addition, I
disguise all the private information, such as mail addresses and URLs.
When I cite a message in a paper, I will always ask the sender for the
permission.

# If you mind my analyzing the messages, please reply. 

I hope my research will contribute to the progress of open-source
software. (I am also an enthusiastic user of GCC always admiring your
excellent work.)

Sincerely,

Yutaka Yamauchi

-----
Yutaka YAMAUCHI
Ishida Laboratory Room 311
Department of Social Informatics
Graduate School of Informatics.
Kyoto University
Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
phone: +81-75-753-5389 fax: +81-75-753-4820
email: yamauchi@kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp
www: http://www.lab7.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~yamauchi