Role of Newcomers Supportive Strategies on Socio-Technical Performance of Open Source Projects

The success of open source software (OSS) projects have been studied in previous research. This paper focused on the effect of newcomers’ supportive strategies in OSS projects on the success level of the projects. Our research analyzes the socio-technical commitment to the project as a proxy for success. Data about 453 OSS projects from GitHub.com is collected and analyzed to empirically test the research model. We have applied a clustering technique to explore the dataset attributes. Results show the importance of newcomers’ supportive strategies on the different socio-technical aspects of OSS projects’ leading to success. Also, we have tested the effect of programming language diversity and project profile health on the success of projects. The outcome of this study has both managerial and practical implications

Motivation and Sorting in Open Source Software Innovation

This paper studies the role of intrinsic motivation, reputation, and reciprocity in driving open source software innovation. Unlike previous literature based on survey data, we exploit the observed pattern of contributions - the .revealed preference. of developers - to infer the underlying incentives driving the decision to contribute source code. Using detailed information on code contributions and project membership, we classify software developers into distinct types and study how contributions from each developer type vary according to the open source license type and other project characteristics. We find that developers strongly sort by license type, project size, and corporate sponsorship, and that reciprocity is important only for a small subset of projects. We also show that contributions have a substantial impact on the performance of open source projects.open source software, innovation, incentives, intrinsic motivation, motivated agents, reputation, reciprocity

An Analytical Study of Code Smells

Software development process involves developing, building and enhancing high-quality software for specific tasks and as a consequence generates considerable amount of data. This data can be managed in a systematic manner creating knowledge repositories that can be used to competitive advantage. Lesson\u27s learned as part of the development process can also be part of the knowledge bank and can be used to advantage in subsequent projects by developers and software practitioners. Code smells are a group of symptoms which reveal that code is not good enough and requires some actions to have a cleansed code. Software metrics help to detect code smells while refactoring methods are used for removing them. Furthermore, various tools are applicable for detecting of code smells. A Code smell repository organizes all the available knowledge in the literature about code smells and related concepts. An analytical study of code smells is presented in this paper which extracts useful, actionable and indicative knowledge

Skills, Division of Labor and Performance in Collective Inventions. Evidence from the Open Source Software

This paper investigates the role of skills and the division of labor among participants in collective inventions. Our analysis draws on a large sample of projects registered at Sourceforge.net, the world’s largest incubator of open source software activity. We explore the hypothesis that the level of skills of participants and their skill variety are important for project performance. Skill heterogeneity across participants is in line with two fundamental organizational features of the open source development model: team work and modular design. We also test the hypothesis whether the level of modularization of project activities is an important predictor of performance. The results provide support to the hypothesis that the skill level is important for the survival of open source projects. Moreover, we found that skill heterogeneity is positive for innovation. Finally, design modularity is positively associated with the performance of the project.Software, Technological innovation, Human capital, Modularity

Value of Software Innovations: The Influence of Social Capital

Technology and innovation are key drivers of economic growth and global competitiveness. However, technological (computer-implemented) innovations are extremely heterogeneous in value. In this study, we investigate the impact of social capital accrued by inventors from collaboration networks in which they are embedded on value of software innovation. Based on empirical analysis on software patents data collected from United States Patent and Trademark Office, we find that the quality of a team’s external direct contacts significantly influence the value of innovation while the quality of indirect contacts on the other hand has no significant impact. In addition, teams that have access to diverse knowledge across multiple regions are more likely to produce valuable innovations. Our results suggest the importance for firms to understand interpersonal collaboration network of inventors across traditional firm and regional boundaries to implement effective hiring, improve team productivity and create valuable innovations

Understanding Open Source Software: A Research Classification Framework

The success of open source applications such as Apache, Linux, and Sendmail spurred interest in this form of software, its development process, and its implication for the software industry. This interest is evident in the existing research being done to address various issues relevant to open source software and open source methodology. This paper proposes a research classification framework that: informs about the current state of open source software research, provides a formal structure to classify this research, and identifies future research opportunities

OpenPerf: A Benchmarking Framework for the Sustainable Development of the Open-Source Ecosystem

Benchmarking involves designing scientific test methods, tools, and frameworks to quantitatively and comparably assess specific performance indicators of certain test subjects. With the development of artificial intelligence, AI benchmarking datasets such as ImageNet and DataPerf have gradually become consensus standards in both academic and industrial fields. However, constructing a benchmarking framework remains a significant challenge in the open-source domain due to the diverse range of data types, the wide array of research issues, and the intricate nature of collaboration networks. This paper introduces OpenPerf, a benchmarking framework designed for the sustainable development of the open-source ecosystem. This framework defines 9 task benchmarking tasks in the open-source research, encompassing 3 data types: time series, text, and graphics, and addresses 6 research problems including regression, classification, recommendation, ranking, network building, and anomaly detection. Based on the above tasks, we implemented 3 data science task benchmarks, 2 index-based benchmarks, and 1 standard benchmark. Notably, the index-based benchmarks have been adopted by the China Electronics Standardization Institute as evaluation criteria for open-source community governance. Additionally, we have developed a comprehensive toolkit for OpenPerf, which not only offers robust data management, tool integration, and user interface capabilities but also adopts a Benchmarking-as-a-Service (BaaS) model to serve academic institutions, industries, and foundations. Through its application in renowned companies and institutions such as Alibaba, Ant Group, and East China Normal University, we have validated OpenPerf's pivotal role in the healthy evolution of the open-source ecosystem

Skills, Division of Labor and Performance in Collective Inventions. Evidence from the Open Source Software

This paper investigates the role of skills and the division of labor among participants in collective inventions. Our analysis draws on a large sample of projects registered at Sourceforge.net, the world’s largest incubator of open source software activity. We explore the hypothesis that the level of skills of participants and their skill variety are important for project performance. Skill heterogeneity across participants is in line with two fundamental organizational features of the open source development model: team work and modular design. We also test the hypothesis whether the level of modularization of project activities is an important predictor of performance. The results provide support to the hypothesis that the skill level is important for the survival of open source projects. Moreover, we found that skill heterogeneity is positive for innovation. Finally, design modularity is positively associated with the performance of the project.This paper investigates the role of skills and the division of labor among participants in collective inventions. Our analysis draws on a large sample of projects registered at Sourceforge.net, the world’s largest incubator of open source software activity. We explore the hypothesis that the level of skills of participants and their skill variety are important for project performance. Skill heterogeneity across participants is in line with two fundamental organizational features of the open source development model: team work and modular design. We also test the hypothesis whether the level of modularization of project activities is an important predictor of performance. The results provide support to the hypothesis that the skill level is important for the survival of open source projects. Moreover, we found that skill heterogeneity is positive for innovation. Finally, design modularity is positively associated with the performance of the project.Refereed Working Papers / of international relevanc

Contribution Barriers to Open Source Projects

Contribution barriers are properties of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects that may prevent newcomers from contributing. Contribution barriers can be seen as forces that oppose the motivations of newcomers. While there is extensive research on the motivation of FLOSS developers, little is known about contribution barriers. However, a steady influx of new developers is connected to the success of a FLOSS project. The first part of this thesis adds two surveys to the existing research that target contribution barriers and motivations of newcomers. The first exploratory survey provides the indications to formulate research hypotheses for the second main survey with 117 responses from newcomers in the two FLOSS projects Mozilla and GNOME. The results lead to an assessment of the importance of the identified contribution barriers and to a new model of the joining process that allows the identification of subgroups of newcomers affected by specific contribution barriers. The second part of the thesis uses the pattern concept to externalize knowledge about techniques lowering contribution barriers. This includes a complete categorization of the existing work on FLOSS patterns and the first empirical evaluation of these FLOSS patterns and their relationships. The thesis contains six FLOSS patterns that lower specific important contribution barriers identified in the surveys. Wikis are web-based systems that allow its users to modify the wiki's contents. They found on wiki principles with which they minimize contribution barriers. The last part of the thesis explores whether a wiki, whose content is usually natural text, can also be used for software development. Such a Wiki Development Environment (WikiDE) must fulfill the requirements of both an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and a wiki. The simultaneous compliance of both sets of requirements imposes special challenges. The thesis describes an adapted contribution process supported by an architecture concept that solves these challenges. Two components of a WikiDE are discussed in detail. Each of them helps to lower a contribution barrier. A Proof of Concept (PoC) realization demonstrates the feasibility of the concept