▁conference ▁might ▁allow ▁the ▁developers ▁to ▁be ▁more ▁efficient ▁with ▁regards ▁to ▁their ▁time ▁spent ▁communic ating , ▁it ▁is ▁more ▁difficult ▁to ▁accomplish ▁when ▁teams ▁work ▁in ▁different ▁time ▁zones , ▁in ▁which ▁case ▁using ▁an ▁email ▁or ▁a ▁mess aging ▁service ▁might ▁be ▁more ▁useful . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁The ▁history ▁of ▁communication ▁in ▁distributed ▁software ▁development ▁is ▁tied ▁to ▁the ▁historical ▁setting ▁of ▁distributed ▁development ▁itself . ▁Communic ation ▁tools ▁helped ▁in ▁adv ancing ▁the ▁distributed ▁development ▁process , ▁since ▁communication ▁was ▁the ▁principal ▁missing ▁component ▁in ▁early ▁attempts ▁for ▁distributed ▁software ▁development ▁. ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁main ▁factors ▁in ▁the ▁creation ▁of ▁new ▁tools ▁and ▁making ▁distributed ▁development ▁a ▁vi able ▁method ology ▁is ▁the ▁introduction ▁of ▁the ▁Internet ▁as ▁an ▁accessible ▁platform ▁for ▁developers ▁and ▁research ers , ▁facil it ating ▁the ▁exchange ▁of ▁both ▁code ▁and ▁information ▁in ▁a ▁team . ▁ ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁first ▁manifest ations ▁of ▁distributed ▁development ▁is ▁the ▁open - source ▁community , ▁where ▁developers ▁are ▁joined ▁together ▁not ▁by ▁an ▁enter prise ▁and ▁its ▁resources ▁but ▁by ▁volunt arily ▁particip ating ▁in ▁the ▁same ▁project , ▁resulting ▁in ▁diverse ▁teams ▁from ▁different ▁ge ographical ▁locations . ▁In ▁these ▁projects ▁there ▁is ▁a ▁sur ging ▁need ▁for ▁communication ▁and ▁collaboration ▁tools . ▁The ▁history ▁of ▁free ▁and ▁open - source ▁software ▁shows ▁that ▁as ▁time ▁progress ed , ▁the ▁complexity ▁of ▁the ▁projects ▁and ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁involved ▁people ▁increased . ▁Better ▁communication ▁and ▁collaboration ▁tools ▁had ▁an ▁important ▁role ▁on ▁this