Social dynamics of free and open source team communications

TitleSocial dynamics of free and open source team communications
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2006
AuthorsHowison, J, Inoue, K, Crowston, K
Secondary TitleOSS2006: Open Source Systems (IFIP 2.13)
Volume203/2006
Pagination319 - 330
Date Published06/2006
PublisherSpringer
ISSN Number978-0-387-34225-2
Keywordsbug fixing, bug reports, bug tracker, bug tracking, bugs, communications, Dynamic social networks, FLOSS teams, Human Factors, social network analysis, software development, sourceforge
Abstract

This paper furthers inquiry into the social structure of free and open source software (FLOSS) teams by undertaking social network analysis across time. Contrary to expectations, we confirmed earlier findings of a wide distribution of centralizations even when examining the networks over time. The paper also provides empirical evidence that while change at the center of FLOSS projects is relatively uncommon, participation across the project communities is highly skewed, with many participants appearing for only one period. Surprisingly, large project teams are not more likely to undergo change at their centers.

DOI10.1007/0-387-34226-5_32
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