Myths and Realities about Online Forums in Open Source Software Development: An Empirical Study

The use of free and open source software (OSS) is gaining momentum due to the ever increasing availability and use of the Internet. Organizations are also now adopting open source software, despite some reservations, in particular regarding the provision and availability of support. Some of the biggest concerns about free and open source software are post release software defects and their rectification, management of dynamic requirements and support to the users. A common belief is that there is no appropriate support available for this class of software. A contradictory argument is that due to the active involvement of Internet users in online forums, there is in fact a large resource available that communicates and manages the provision of support. The research model of this empirical investigation examines the evidence available to assess whether this commonly held belief is based on facts given the current developments in OSS or simply a myth, which has developed around OSS development. We analyzed a dataset consisting of 1880 open source software projects covering a broad range of categories in this investigation. The results show that online forums play a significant role in managing software defects, implementation of new requirements and providing support to the users in open source software and have become a major source of assistance in maintenance of the open source projects

An empirical investigation of an object-oriented software system

This is the post print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link below.This paper describes an empirical investigation into an industrial object-oriented (OO) system comprised of 133,000 lines of C++. The system was a subsystem of a telecommunications product and was developed using the Shlaer-Mellor method. From this study, we found that there was little use of OO constructs such as inheritance and, therefore, polymorphism. It was also found that there was a significant difference in the defect densities between those classes that participated in inheritance structures and those that did not, with the former being approximately three times more defect-prone. We were able to construct useful prediction systems for size and number of defects based upon simple counts such as the number of states and events per class. Although these prediction systems are only likely to have local significance, there is a more general principle that software developers can consider building their own local prediction systems. Moreover, we believe this is possible, even in the absence of the suites of metrics that have been advocated by researchers into OO technology. As a consequence, measurement technology may be accessible to a wider group of potential users

A double hurdle approach for company further training behaviour and an empirical test of this using data from the IAB establishment panel

"In this paper the further training behaviour of firms is explained using a double hurdle approach: the first hurdle is that the further training of employees is worthwhile for the firms in general, the second hurdle is that demand for further training arises. The empirical test is conducted using data from the IAB establishment panel: by combining the balanced panel for three waves into a cross-section it is possible to determine the effect of extending the observation period for the provision of further training (probit estimates) and the intensity of further training (quasi-likelihood estimates). The results confirm the double hurdle approach: variables for capital intensity, innovation orientation and the employee structure have a significant impact on whether further training is generally worthwhile for the firms, and investment in data processing and in the field of communication as well as organisational changes are significant motivations for providing further training." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) Additional Information Kurzfassung (deutsch) Executive summary (English)Weiterbildungsverhalten - Determinanten, betriebliche Weiterbildung, Betrieb, Qualifikationsbedarf, Weiterbildungsbedarf, Bildungsertrag, Kapitalintensität, Innovation, Beschäftigtenstruktur, technischer Wandel, informationstechnische Bildung, organisatorischer Wandel, Bildungsinvestitionen, Bildungsökonomie, IAB-Betriebspanel