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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">ISPRS-Archives</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">ISPRS-Archives</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">2194-9034</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W20-2025-11-2026</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Knowledge sharing and boundary conditions within the virtual community: an examination of free and open-source software communities</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Du</surname>
<given-names>Juana</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Ding</surname>
<given-names>Hanqing</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>School of Leadership and Management, Royal Roads University, Canada</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>School of Journalism and Communication. Beijing Normal University, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>29</day>
<month>04</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>XLVIII-4/W20-2025</volume>
<fpage>11</fpage>
<lpage>16</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Juana Du</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-4-W20-2025/11/2026/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W20-2025-11-2026.html">This article is available from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-4-W20-2025/11/2026/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W20-2025-11-2026.html</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-4-W20-2025/11/2026/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W20-2025-11-2026.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-4-W20-2025/11/2026/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W20-2025-11-2026.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>This paper examines knowledge-sharing practices among professionals in the virtual community. It emphasizes the concept of knowledge boundaries and explores the mechanism of knowledge sharing across boundaries within the free and open-source software community. By applying &lt;em&gt;Bona Fide Group Theory&lt;/em&gt; from a communication perspective, this research identified several key contextual and social factors that impact boundary conditions and knowledge sharing practice. The findings explain the mechanism of interdependence and the impact of contextual and social factors that impact knowledge sharing, an area that has not been studied thoroughly due to its unique nature and emerging complexity of virtual communities. It offers fresh insights into task interdependence and knowledge sharing across the pragmatic boundary with a virtual community, particularly given the advancement of AI technology which reshapes the novelty of knowledge boundary. This research findings offer several important practical implications. First, it highlights the important communication mechanism and its impact on members&amp;rsquo; commitment to the community. Second, it suggests the need to establish communication protocols with effective tools to accommodate the novelty of boundaries. Third, developing a comprehensive understanding of permeate boundaries helps community members to better collaborate and engage in knowledge-sharing practices. Finally, it suggests establishing sustainable practices and interactions within the virtual community and embracing a positive community culture.</p>
</abstract>
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</article-meta>
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