The part which describes the circumstances where she's seen an unstructured group work is interesting.
In particular, this condition
> Its function is very narrow and very specific, like putting on a conference or putting out a newspaper. It is the task that basically structures the group. The task determines what needs to be done and when it needs to be done. It provides a guide by which people can judge their actions and make plans for future activity.
is a good match for many free software projects.
That's one of four conditions she thinks are necessary. The other three are interesting too.
> It is the task that basically structures the group.
Interesting idea. But the illustrations are lacking for now. I have seen events put up - and the thing is less that there was no structure (there are a core of people who know what they are doing, and the others who need their leadership) and more that (1) there is no time to haggle about the structure and (2) what you do notice is the people who are willing to put hard work on anything that needs it and the people who are there socially.
In the case of software projects, there is the thing of people putting in programming work on whatever they feel like - but meanwhile there is a structure of people defining the project, prioritizing bugs, etc. And there is very often a project owner or BDFL. We can rationalize it by saying that it's a technical structure or leadership but it's still there.
What I don't see much of is projects where being willing to show up and do the work is "enough". There are many project where people self assign themselves to this or that group - but that's not the same.
In particular, this condition
> Its function is very narrow and very specific, like putting on a conference or putting out a newspaper. It is the task that basically structures the group. The task determines what needs to be done and when it needs to be done. It provides a guide by which people can judge their actions and make plans for future activity.
is a good match for many free software projects.
That's one of four conditions she thinks are necessary. The other three are interesting too.