Identifying Developer Engagement in Open-Source Software Blockchain Projects through Factor Analysis

The ubiquity of GitHub for software developers to coordinate software development in a community platform has resulted in a rich source of public data. Blockchain teams put open-source code as a founding principle since the release of Bitcoin and nearly all blockchain-based projects have code visible on GitHub. Developer engagement is known to be important to the health and viability of open-source software, yet has varying definitions and no standard method of measuring what constitutes engagement. This work uses exploratory factor analysis to identify dimensions that represent engagement in a community of open-source developers. We find that a latent factor composed of pull-requests, commits, comments, and authors based on a monthly average of the previous three months is a representation of Developer Engagement. A secondary factor consists of stars, forks, and total authors. Cross validation of the dataset is carried out with good support for the model

Towards An Empirical Theory of Ideologies in the Open Source Software Movement

Encompassing a diverse population of developers, non-technical users, organizations, and many other stakeholders, open source software (OSS) development has expanded to broader social movements from the initial product development aims. Ideology, as a coherent system of ideas, offers value commitments and normative implications for any social movement, so does OSS ideology for the open source movement. However, the literature on open source ideology is often fragile, or lacking in empirical evidence. In this paper, we sought to develop a comprehensive empirical theory of ideologies in open source software movement. Following a grounded theory procedure, we collected and analyzed data from 22 semi-structured interviews and 41 video recordings of Open Source Initiative (OSI) board members' public speeches. An empirical theory of OSS ideology emerged in our analysis, with six key categories: membership, norms/values, goals, activities, resources, and positions/group relations; each consists of a number of themes and subthemes. We discussed a subset of carefully selected themes and subthemes in detail based on their theoretical significance. With this ideological lens, we examined the implications and insights into open source development, and shed light on the research into open source as a social-cultural construction in the future

Towards a theory of urban design under neoliberalism: the Urban Revolution as methodology

This thesis critically discusses the current status of urban design as a disciplinary field and as practice. It maintains that urban design has been wholly reshaped by neoliberalism. It has become a discipline that has neglected its original ethos – designing good cities – in order to align its theory and practice with the objectives of neoliberalism. In investigating the neoliberalisation of urban design, this thesis puts forward an object of study: urban-design-under-neoliberalism. This object situates the conceptual analysis, and illustrates the way neoliberalism compromised urban designers’ ethics, practices and theories, becoming instrumental to the neoliberal transformation of urban society represented in contemporary urbanisms. Methodologically, the thesis is inspired by the critical reflections of Henri Lefebvre in The Urban Revolution. This book puts forth an essential critique of urban studies, challenging the methods and ethos of practitioners and researchers, and calls for a non-capitalist practice for developing the city. The thesis employs three methodological strategies to critically unpack urban-design-under-neoliberalism. These strategies are transductive reasoning, levels and dimensions of analysis, and spatial dialectics. These strategies are complementary and provide an analytical framework to understanding how neoliberalism subsumed urban design using economic, political, social and spatial strategies. Urban-design-under-neoliberalism represents an approach to the production of spaces in which revenues and profits are the main criteria used to decide the form of the space. Therefore, this thesis embraces the far-reaching methodological framework developed in The Urban Revolution, and contributes to the development of critical theoretical reflections in order to disentangle how the disciplinary field of urban design has become an instrument for accomplishing capitalist goals in relation to extracting value from urbanisation processes. This framework addresses the contradictory relationship between the ethos of urban design and the neoliberalist practices such as entrepreneurialism, public-private partnerships, and the privatisation of social services. The thesis uses Santiago de Chile as the contextual spatial site to ground the research and analysis. Santiago’s urban form is investigated through three main approaches: (i) historical research of the relationship between urban practices and political-economic goals; (ii) recent urban strategies that illustrate the actual neoliberalisation of the city; and (iii) a discursive analysis of urban designers’ practices under a neoliberal regime, focusing on their ethical reflections. As a result, the thesis offers an assessment of the practice of urban design under neoliberalism. A set of theoretically informed reflections aim to the much-needed discussion on the ethical, practical and theoretical dimensions of urban design. It aims to unravel the contradictions and cracks in the virtual object of study – urban-design-under-neoliberalism. Ultimately the thesis seeks to contribute towards building a potential alternative theory of urban design under neoliberalism as an act of resistance and revolutionary strategy

The Influence of Dependency Networks on Developer Attraction in Open Source Software Ecosystems

Open source software projects rely on the continuous attraction of developers and therefore access to the pool of available developer resources. In modern software ecosystems, these projects are related through technical dependencies. In this study, we investigate the influence of these dependencies on a project’s ability to attract developers. We develop and test our hypothesis by observing the dependency networks and repository activities of 1832 projects in the JavaScript ecosystem. We find that dependencies to other projects have a positive effect on developer attraction while we did not find an effect of dependencies from other projects. Our study contributes theoretically and practically to the understanding of developer attraction and highlights the role of technical interdependencies in software ecosystems

Governing open source software through coordination processes

Governance provides the authoritative framework for coordinating activities in open source development. Prior studies of open source governance have largely focused on its changing nature over time. In this work, we argue that the nature of governance varies across open source communities, and, in its evolution, multiple traces of authority may co-exist. We propose that such multiplicity can be understood by close examination of the authoritative structures embedded in coordination processes. We collected eight years of data on the coordination related to version control of the Linux kernel. Drawing on in-depth qualitative analysis, we investigate how coordination processes with different authoritative structures come together in the governance of open source software. We trace four coordination processes (autocratic clearing, oligarchic recursion, federated self-governance, and meritocratic idea-testing), each grounded in different authoritative structures (autocracy, oligarchy, federation, meritocracy) with their own form of legitimation. We offer a two-fold contribution in this paper. First, we enhance the open source governance literature by advancing a new theoretical perspective in which governance is seen as a configuration of coordination processes. Configurations give complementary support and are a source of tension and renewal. Second, we articulate a view on the conceptual relationship between governance and coordination where these concepts are understood as a duality, both working together to give rise to efficient and dynamic organizing in open source

Folding and unfolding : balancing openness and transparency in open source communities

Open source communities rely on the espoused premise of complete openness and transparency of source code and development process. Yet, openness and transparency at times need to be balanced out with moments of less open and transparent work. Through our detailed study of Linux Kernel development we build a theory that explains that transparency and openness are nuanced and changing qualities that certain developers manage as they use multiple digital technologies and create, in moments of needs, more opaque and closed digital spaces of work. We refer to these spaces as digital folds. Our paper contributes to extant literature: by providing a process theory of how transparency and openness are balanced with opacity and closure in open source communities according to the needs of the development work; by conceptualizing the nature of digital folds and their role in providing quiet spaces of work: and, by articulating how the process of digital folding and unfolding is made far more possible by select elite actors’ navigating the line between the pragmatics of coding and the accepted ideology of openness and transparency

From Gay Street to Turkey Creek: Knoxville’s Urban and Suburban Growth Machines

Using growth machine theory, this study examines the newly built lifestyle center of the suburban Turkey Creek development and the redevelopment of the Gay Street corridor in downtown Knoxville, TN. Growth machine theory is one of sociology\u27s predominant theories used to understand development and growth projects in metropolitan areas, and although not specifically defined in current literature, I suggest there are many differences in suburban and urban growth machines. This study examines the local dependency and organization of pro-growth coalitions; the tactics, ideology, and culture used to promote development projects; and community reactions. Upon completion of this project, I found that urban and suburban growth machines differed in local dependency and level of community opposition, but utilized similar tactics, ideology, and culture. Furthermore, several themes emerged at the conclusion of this project- the attempts to structure social life around retail centers, suburbanization, and the increasing influence of growth language in everyday life- the further impact increasing pro-growth coalition influence

Neoliberalism and Social Justice in the City: An Examination of Postwar Urban Development in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Neoliberal urban development has witnessed tremendous changes in urban landscapes around the world. It has also contributed to increasing inequalities and social injustices in these changing urban landscapes. This study is an attempt to explore how neoliberal urban processes and accumulation by dispossession have shaped the new and rapid urban (re)development drive in Sri Lanka that is dramatically restructuring Colombo’s landscape and the socio-economic positions of its people. The post-war Sri Lankan governments’ initiation of a complete transformation and reinvention of the city’s built environment—through large-scale market-oriented infrastructural developments that would attract financial direct investments and promote public-private partnerships—has also necessitated the removal of ‘slums and shanties’ that are home to Colombo’s poor working class population. The study assumes significance in the context of a country that is attempting to rebuild itself after a three-decade long civil war that ended in 2009. The state-led accelerated and expansive urban renewal program serves to meet Sri Lanka’s postwar economic and political vision of fully integrating itself into the global economy by transforming Colombo into a ‘world class city’ and ‘modern megapolis’. Framed within a comprehensive theoretical framework and based on an extensive analysis of archival and secondary data, this study maps out the socio-economic, political, and spatial processes that underlie Colombo’s urban renewal agenda and its related class implications. I believe this study has the potential to contribute to the body of knowledge on the social injustices related to neoliberal urban development around the world and to be the basis of further urban sociological research