Category Archives: F/L/OSS Track

Determining the Geographical distribution of a Community by means of a Time-zone Analysis

Announcement, Conference Contributions, F/L/OSS Track, OpenSym 2016, Proceedings, Research Contributions, Research Tracks, Short Research Papers

Title: Determining the Geographical distribution of a Community by means of a Time-zone Analysis

Authors: Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona, Gregorio Robles (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos) and Daniel Izquierdo-Cortazar (Bitergia)

Abstract: Free/libre/open source software projects are usually developed by a geographically distributed community of developers and contributors. In contrast to traditional corporate environments, it is hard to obtain information about how the community is geographically distributed, mainly because participation is open to volunteers and in many cases it is just occasional. During the last years, specially with the increasing implication of institutions, non-profit organizations and companies, there is a growing interest in having information about the geographic location of developers. This is because projects want to be as global as possible, in order to attract new contributors, users and, of course, clients. In this paper we show a methodology to obtain the geographical distribution of a development community by analyzing the source code management system and the mailing lists they use.

This contribution to OpenSym 2016 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2016 proceedings on or after August 17, 2016.

Out of Altruism or Because it Reads Well on the CV?: The Motivations for Participation in the Freifunk Community Compared to FLOSS

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Title: Out of Altruism or Because it Reads Well on the CV?: The Motivations for Participation in the Freifunk Community Compared to FLOSS

Authors: Lyudmila Vaseva (Freie Universitaet Berlin)

Abstract: Motivation of free, libre and open source software developers has been widely studied over the years. The reasons people engage in this seemingly altruistic behavior have been elaborated and classified. The present work addresses a slightly different issue: what motivates individuals to participate in community network projects? Are the reasons similar to or quite distinct from these relevant to contributors to free software? Based on recently conducted interviews with community network activists from the Germany based project Freifunk and established FLOSS motivation research, we will analyse the specifics of the Freifunk project and the factors which spur its members to action. The obtained insights could then hopefully be used to understand the underlying group processes and help build sustainable communities.

This contribution to OpenSym 2016 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2016 proceedings on or after August 17, 2016.

Open Concentration Index: Measure of Market Concentration in Open Source Industry

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Title: Open Concentration Index: Measure of Market Concentration in Open Source Industry

Author: Dr Ir Robert Viseur (CETIC)

Abstract: The market concentration is a measure of competition and, as such, is closely monitored by public competition authorities in the European Union or the United States. Among recent claims in Europe, we study the case of the mobile operating system Google Android, despite its open source quality and the fact it can as such be regarded as presenting no risk in terms of market dominance. In this research, we analyze the concept of market concentration. We suggest that when a dominant or significant participant is open, such as is the case for the Apache web server in the overall web server market, the negative effects of high concentration are mitigated. As such, a new market concentration metric is proposed that takes into account openness, as measured by the Open Governance Index of Liz Laffan. We thus combine a concentration index and a governance index described in literature to obtain Open Concentration Index suitable for open source context.

This contribution to OpenSym 2016 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2016 proceedings on or after August 17, 2016.

Differentiating Communication Styles of Leaders on the Linux Kernel Mailing List

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Title: Differentiating Communication Styles of Leaders on the Linux Kernel Mailing List

Authors: Daniel Schneider, Scott Spurlock and Megan Squire (Elon University)

Abstract: Much communication between developers of free, libre, and open source software (FLOSS) projects happens on email mailing lists. Geographically and temporally dispersed development teams use email as an asynchronous, centralized, persistently stored institutional memory for sharing code samples, discussing bugs, and making decisions. Email is especially important to large, mature projects, such as the Linux kernel, which has thousands of developers and a multilayered leadership structure. In this paper, we collect and analyze data to understand the communication patterns in such a community. How do the leaders of the Linux Kernel project write in email? What are the salient features of their writing, and can we discern one leader from another? We find that there are clear written markers for two leaders who have been particularly important to recent discussions of leadership style on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML): Linux Torvalds and Greg Kroah-Hartman. Furthermore, we show that it is straightforward to use a machine learning strategy to automatically differentiate these two leaders based on their writing. Our findings will help researchers understand how this community works, and why there is occasional controversy regarding differences in communication styles on the LKML.

This contribution to OpenSym 2016 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2016 proceedings on or after August 17, 2016.

Motivation of Newcomers to FLOSS Projects

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Title: Motivation of Newcomers to FLOSS Projects

Authors: Christoph Hannebauer and Volker Gruhn (paluno – The Ruhr Institute for Software Technology University of Duisburg-Essen)

Abstract: While the motivations of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) developers have been the subject of extensive research, the motivations for their initial contribution to a FLOSS project has received only little attention. This survey of 94 newcomers to the FLOSS projects Mozilla and GNOME identifies the motivations for the modification of the FLOSS components and for the submission of these modifications back to the FLOSS project. With the responses, we test a hypothesis based on the previous qualitative research on newcomer motivations: Most newcomers modify a component because they need the modification for themselves. Surprisingly, this is not the case for our respondents, who have a variety of primary modification motivations. Newcomer occupation is discussed as a reason for this difference to previous results.

This contribution to OpenSym 2016 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2016 proceedings on or after August 17, 2016.

Observing Custom Software Modifications: A Quantitative Approach of Tracking the Evolution of Patch Stacks

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Title: Observing Custom Software Modifications: A Quantitative Approach of Tracking the Evolution of Patch Stacks

Authors: Ralf Ramsauer (Technical University of Applied Sciences Regensburg); Daniel Lohmann (Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg); Wolfgang Mauerer (Technical University of Applied Sciences Regensburg Siemens AG, Munich)

Abstract: Modifications to open-source software (OSS) are often provided in the form of “patch stacks”– sets of changes (patches) that modify a given body of source code. Maintaining patch stacks over extended periods of time is problematic when the underlying base project changes frequently. This necessitates a continuous and engineering-intensive adaptation of the stack. Nonetheless, long-term maintenance is an important problem for changes that are not integrated into projects, for instance when they are controversial or only of value to a limited group of users. We present and implement a methodology to systematically examine the temporal evolution of patch stacks, track non-functional properties like integrability and maintainability, and estimate the eventual economic and engineering effort required to successfully develop and maintain patch stacks. Our results provide a basis for quantitative research on patch stacks, including statistical analyses and other methods that lead to actionable advice on the construction and long-term maintenance of custom extensions to OSS.

This contribution to OpenSym 2016 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2016 proceedings on or after August 17, 2016.

Initial Results from the Study of the Open Source Sector in Belgium

Announcement, Conference Contributions, F/L/OSS Track, OpenSym 2014, Research Contributions, Research Tracks, Short Research Papers

Title: Initial Results from the Study of the Open Source Sector in Belgium

Authors: Robert Viseur (University of Mons)

Abstract: The economy of FLOSS (Free and open source software) has been the subject of numerous studies and publications, particularly on the issue of business models. However, there are fewer studies on the local networks of FLOSS providers. This research focuses on the ecosystem of Belgian FLOSS providers and, more specifically, their geographical distribution, the activities, technologies and software they support, their business models, their economic performance and the relationships between companies. The research is based on a directory containing nearly 150 companies. This directory led to the creation of a specialized search engine that helped to improve annotation. The research also uses financial data provided by the Belgian Central Balance Sheet Office. The initial results of this study show a concentration in major economic areas. The businesses are more active in the services and are heavily involved activities such as infrastructure software and Web development, activities which were common in the early years of free software development. Services for the support of business software is also common. A first analysis of the graph of relationships between providers’ websites highlights the role that is played by the multinational IT companies, by FLOSS editors, by commercial FLOSS associations and especially by the Walloon centers of competence that offer vast training catalogs that are dedicated to FLOSS. This research opens up many perspectives for improving the automation of the company directory updates, the analysis of the relationship between enterprises, and the automation of the financial analysis of companies.

This contribution to OpenSym 2014 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2014 proceedings on or after August 27, 2014.

Hackers on Forking

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Title: Hackers on Forking

Authors: Linus Nyman (Hanken University, Finland)

Abstract: All open source licenses allow the copying of an existing body of code for use as the basis of a separate development project. This practice is commonly known as forking the code. This paper presents the results of a study in which 11 programmers were interviewed about their opinions on the right to fork and the impact of forking on open source software development. The results show that there is a general consensus among programmers’ views regarding both the favourable and unfavourable aspects that stem from the right to fork. Interestingly, while all programmers noted potential downsides to the right to fork, it was seen by all as an integral component of open source software, and a right that must not be infringed regardless of circumstance or outcome.

This contribution to OpenSym 2014 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2014 proceedings on or after August 27, 2014.

Older Adults and Free/Open Source Software: A Diary Study of First-Time Contributors

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Title: Older Adults and Free/Open Source Software: A Diary Study of First-Time Contributors

Authors: Jennifer Davidson (Oregon State University), Umme Ayda Mannan (Oregon State University), Rithika Naik (Oregon State University), Ishneet Dua (Oregon State University), Carlos Jensen (Oregon State University)

Abstract: The global population is aging rapidly, and older adults are becoming increasingly technically savvy. This paper explores ways to engage these individuals to contribute to free/open source software (FOSS) projects. We conducted a pilot diary study to explore motivations, barriers, and the contribution processes of first-time contributors in a real time, qualitative manner. In addition, we measured their self-efficacy before and after their participation. We found that what drove participants were intrinsic motivations, altruism, and internal values, which differed from previous work with older adults and with the general FOSS population. We also found that self-efficacy did not change significantly, even when participants encountered significant barriers or setbacks. The top 3 barriers were lack of communication, installation issues, and documentation issues. We found that asking for and receiving help, and avoiding difficult development environments were more likely to lead to success. To verify these results, we encourage a future large-scale diary study that involves multiple demographics. Given our pilot study, we recommend that future outreach efforts involving older adults focus on how to effectively communicate and build community amongst older contributors.

This contribution to OpenSym 2014 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2014 proceedings on or after August 27, 2014.

On Influences Between Software Standards and Their Implementations in Open Source Projects: Experiences from RDFa and Its Implementation in Drupal

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Title: On Influences Between Software Standards and Their Implementations in Open Source Projects: Experiences from RDFa and Its Implementation in Drupal

Authors: Björn Lundell (University of Skövde), Jonas Gamalielsson (University of Skövde), Alexander Grahn (University of Skövde), Jonas Feist (RedBridge AB), Tomas Gustavsson (PrimeKey Solutions AB), Henrik Strindberg (Findwise AB)

Abstract: It is widely acknowledged that standards implemented in open source software can reduce the risk for lock-in, improve interoperability, and promote competition on the market. However, there is limited knowledge concerning the relationship between standards and their implementations in open source software. This paper reports from an investigation of influences between software standards and open source software implementations of software standards. The study focuses on the RDFa standard and its implementation in the Drupal project. Specifically, issues in the W3C issue trackers for RDFa and the Drupal issue tracker for RDFa have been analysed. Findings show that there is clear evidence of reciprocal action between RDFa and its implementation in Drupal. The study contributes novel insights concerning effective processes for development and long-term maintenance of software standards and their implementations in open source projects.

This contribution to OpenSym 2014 will be made available as part of the OpenSym 2014 proceedings on or after August 27, 2014.