Determinants of open source software project success: A longitudinal study

TitleDeterminants of open source software project success: A longitudinal study
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2009
AuthorsSubramaniam, C, Sen, R, Nelson, ML
Secondary TitleDecis. Support Syst.
Volume46
Pagination576–585
Date PublishedJanuary
PublisherElsevier Science Publishers B. V.
Place PublishedAmsterdam, The Netherlands, The Netherlands
ISSN Number0167-9236
Keywordscontributors, developers, licenses, longitudinal study, Open source project, OSS, project success, restrictive, Software project success
Abstract

In this paper, we investigate open source software (OSS) success using longitudinal data on OSS projects. We find that restrictive OSS licenses have an adverse impact on OSS success. On further analysis, restrictive OSS license is found to be negatively associated with developer interest, but is positively associated with the interest of non-developer users and project administrators. We also show that developer and non-developer interest in the OSS project and the project activity levels in any time period significantly affect the project success measures in subsequent time period. The implications of our findings for OSS research and practice are discussed.

URLhttp://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1480545.1480824
DOI10.1016/j.dss.2008.10.005
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