Quality, Cost, and Governance of Open Source Software

Quality, Cost, and Governance of Open Source Software Chiara Francalanci [email_address] Milano, 24 ottobre, 2008

What is Open Source? A licensing model which respects OSI definition Software with source code available A cooperative model to develop software that relies on communities Software developed by volunteers in their spare time Applications to which everybody can contribute A new marketing and business model Linux

Open Source refers to different models Development and managerial model Focus of the this talk Business model Ideological model Licensing and distribution model

Most people have in mind community Open Source projects… Preliminary evidence ,[object Object],[object Object],Variable ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],EXAMPLE jEdit ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

… but some Open Source projects actually are a company… Preliminary evidence ,[object Object],[object Object],Variable ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],EXAMPLE SugarCRM ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

… and some communities are indirectly led by a company Preliminary evidence ,[object Object],[object Object],Variable ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],EXAMPLE OpenOffice ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

There is a continuum between open and close : we need a framework to position SW projects ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Characteristics ,[object Object],[object Object],Goals

We have analyzed 75 major Open Source projects* Value ,[object Object],[object Object],Variable ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Examples of projects

We identified four managerial dimensions (1/2) Leading questions ,[object Object],Dimension ,[object Object],[object Object],Ranging from… … to ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

We identified four managerial dimensions (2/2) Leading questions ,[object Object],Dimension ,[object Object],[object Object],Ranging from… … to ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

The managerial framework applied: MySql ,[object Object],Contribution: Project Leadership: Working Practices: Testing: EXAMPLE ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],1 2 4 3 Open Close

A provocative finding Some companies adopt Open Source strategies to pursue their corporate objectives Some Open Source communities are indirectly boosted and led by companies ,[object Object]

A company is a company Commercial Open Source Projects Code developed by hired developers External committers Statistic data from our sample Why a company would adopt an Open Source strategy? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],~92% ~0%

Companies support Open Source communities Community Open Source Projects ~50% ~35% Code developed by hired developers Projects that hold regular meetings Statistic data from our sample Why for-profit corporations would fund Open Source projects? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Common beliefs on OS software ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Rationale Belief ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

A few legitimate common concerns… Most of the costs are often accounted to a single company Distributed coordination is more challenging and cumbersome Less formal governance may not force quality control explicitly Most developers are paid

Consolidated knowledge on quality in closed source traditional software Explanation ,[object Object],[object Object],Evidence ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Consolidated knowledge on costs in closed source traditional software Explanation ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Evidence ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Research questions Is the quality of Open Source higher than that of proprietary software? Does Open Source cost more or less than proprietary software? What are the real advantages of Open Source?

Cost metric ,[object Object],[object Object],Average 11.2 35.0 Time spent by developers on OS projects Hours/ week Com-mercial Apache Java. net SF 16.2 10.8 8.5 Source : survey of 3.346 developers and administrators involved in 268 different OS projects ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Quality metrics Definition ,[object Object],Metric Standard code-based metrics measured with an ad-hoc tool ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Average values Apache SF Java Average ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

The continuum between open and closed source projects along the governance dimension Working practices: degree to which the working and communication practices of a project are geographically distributed and virtual Code: percentage of code that is available under an OS license Project Leadership: degree to which the leadership of a project is hierarchical Contribution: amount of voluntary code development 4 1 2 3 Open Close

Correlation model* Not significant Significant Significant ,[object Object],DESIGN QUALITY CBO COF NOC WMC DIT GOVERNANCE Code Contribution Leadership Working practices COST Results ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Observations ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Why should companies adopt the OS development model? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Why should companies adopt OS software? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Quality, Cost, and Governance of Open Source Software

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Quality, Cost, and Governance of Open Source Software