Two case studies of open source software development

TLDR

Open source software development is claimed to compete with and potentially replace traditional commercial methods. The study examines data from the Apache web server and Mozilla browser to develop hypotheses comparing open source and commercial projects. Using email archives of source code change history and problem reports, the authors quantified developer participation, core team size, code ownership, productivity, defect density, and problem resolution intervals, then developed and tested hypotheses by comparing Apache with commercial projects and refining them with Mozilla data. The authors conclude with reflections on the prospects for high‑performance commercial/open‑source process hybrids.

Abstract

According to its proponents, open source style software development has the capacity to compete successfully, and perhaps in many cases displace, traditional commercial development methods. In order to begin investigating such claims, we examine data from two major open source projects, the Apache web server and the Mozilla browser. By using email archives of source code change history and problem reports we quantify aspects of developer participation, core team size, code ownership, productivity, defect density, and problem resolution intervals for these OSS projects. We develop several hypotheses by comparing the Apache project with several commercial projects. We then test and refine several of these hypotheses, based on an analysis of Mozilla data. We conclude with thoughts about the prospects for high-performance commercial/open source process hybrids.