Understanding Free/Open Source Software Evolution: Applying, Breaking and Rethinking the Laws of Software Evolution

This study examines whether the evolution of open source software conforms to the laws of software evolution that have been in development for more than 30 years. Given evidence and data that may not conform, it becomes necessary to consider how the laws and theory might be revamped to better account for the data that characterizes both conventional closed source software and F/OSS system evolution.