Quantitative Analysis of the Structure and Dynamics of the SourceForge Project and Developer Populations: Prospective Research Themes and Methodologies
Juan Mateos García

June 2004

Abstract

Most analyses of the characteristics, advantages and pitfalls of the F/LOSS development model have so far been undertaken from a case study perspective, focusing on a small number of large, relatively well known and successful projects. This line of research has been very useful in identifying and starting to study a broad range of relevant issues, but has also neglected the existence of a large number of small projects to which its conclusions might not necessarily apply. The analysis of the population of projects hosted by SourceForge appears, in this context, as an attractive strategy for increasing the generality of the implications of existing research and obtaining a more complete understanding of the F/LOSS Development Model in terms of project’s population structures and lifecycles, factors of success and failure in projects, the presence and importance of social networks in developer communities and macro trends in the SourceForge project population. In this report we describe these possible research themes and the methodologies that can be adopted in order to address them using SourceForge data. This exposition is set in the context of existing literature and of our own preliminary research, conducted with funding by the National Science Foundation. Undertaking the research tasks that we present will contribute to a deeper and more realistic understanding of the dynamics that unfold in F/LOSS communities and projects, as well as of the limitations and advantages associated to them, and will make it possible to start elaborating an empirically grounded set of guidelines concerning the applicability, sustainability and efficiency of the F/LOSS development model, for use by decision makers in the policy and business spheres.

[Download this paper from: http://siepr.stanford.edu/programs/OpenSoftware_David/JuanM-G_FOSS-PopDyn_Report2+.pdf pdf]